Exciting – yes, Crazy – no!
Tags: Okanagan, Coldwell Banker, Vernon, Real Estate
Are you hearing the stories of people listing their home for sale and getting tens of thousands over asking price? This crazy stories are how panic and expectations start to set in! For many potential Sellers and Buyers - crazy markets are intimidating and some choose to sit it out until it calms down.
So, lets look at what has really been happening in the North Okanagan in this first quarter ….
To get started we took a look at the 512 single family homes that listed some time in the first quarter of 2021 (that’s 54 more than last quarter).
55% of the newly listed homes in the first quarter 2021 have sold in an average of 19 days on market! That is fast and good news for sellers, but not out of control! 19 days suggests Buyers are still writing offers with conditions and giving themselves time to do their diligence!
Not all homes are flying off the shelf for over asking – in fact only 49% of homes sold for over asking, 17% went for asking and 34% went for under asking.
AND, it wasn’t hundreds of thousands – in fact 5% was the average price increase for the 49% of homes that did sell for over asking. The highest we found (just one) was 16%. And some areas were more prone to over ask sale prices than others – East Hill, Mission Hill, South Vernon and Middleton Mountain. We have observed an emerging tactic for some listing realtors to price a little lower in order to attract a buzz and excitement, not to mention the thrill for the Seller sifting through a stack of offers!
What does all this mean? We would say the market is exciting rather than crazy. Crazy suggests out of control and we don’t think it’s that. We think it’s going to stay exciting for a while. Our strong market can be attributed to low interest rates, more people wanting to move to the beautiful Okanagan and there are simply not enough places to buy. And with some cool-headed BLUE thinking from your team at Coldwell Banker we can help you take advantage of this exciting market – buying or selling.
