October 2018 Nanaimo Real Estate Market Update

You might be hearing a lot in the news about price corrections in the Vancouver market, but it must be understood that Nanaimo's real estate market has its own characteristics and is developing very differently.

While home SALES in Nanaimo have decreased sharply (Sept 2018 sales were down about 36% from the previous September), PRICES are still rising - September sale prices were more than 10% higher in Nanaimo than they were a year ago.

How do we explain the decrease in sales? It's widely suggested that the number of buyers has diminished because of prudent regulatory measures such as the mortgage stress test, increased interest rates, and increased sales taxes on various types of real estate purchases. But because Nanaimo has a lot of older buyers who don't need loans to buy a property, our market has been less affected by tougher lending guidelines.

So how does the market feel on the ground? What's it like to list or purchase a home in Nanaimo this autumn?

Sellers are having to accept that the 2016/2017 extreme seller's market is behind us - multiple offers within a week of listing are no longer the norm. Unless they are willing to price their home competitively, sellers are likely to see their home sit on market for several weeks (which is still a better scenario for sellers than waiting 6 weeks to sell, such as in a more balanced market).

Buyers are finally able to BREATHE after they view a property, and to take time to decide whether they would like to make an offer. Price reductions are very common, so patient buyers are finding they can make lower offers (5% under list price) for properties that have been listed for 2 or more weeks. Multiple offer scenarios are still common, but they are no longer the norm!

Please reach out to me if you have questions about the current market or where things are going! I'm also happy to help you with listing or purchasing real estate in the Nanaimo area.