Newsletter

BRAND NEW SAVED SEARCH FEATURE!

Exciting news! We’ve launched a new tool on our website to make it easier for you to find your dream home or just stay informed about what’s going on in the local real estate market.

Our new saved search feature lets you create and save a custom property search and get notifications in your inbox whenever new properties match your criteria.

Whether you’re actively looking for your next home, or just curious about what’s available around you, this tool will save you a lot of time. And you can rest easy knowing you’ll be one of the first people to know when your dream home hits the market.

We hope this makes your property quest easier and, as always, let us know if there’s anything we can help you with!

TNWG New West Update:

What happens with real estate in August? Summer time in real estate is slow for sales, and busy for planning. We have a few detailed resources to help anyone planning to sell this fall. Sellers are not terribly interested in being on the market this time of year. Reduced inventory creates pent up demand. The market picks up in September when the good inventory hits the market.

How to plan the right way and make your listing one of the good ones…Please, if it’s you or someone you know who is planning, get them to look at the resources we have provided. Our blog lists some of our favourite, high return on investment tasks to prepare your home (https://thenewwestguys.com/2018/07/26/preparing-to-list-your-home-in-a-month-or-two/). Our weekly podcast is focusing the entire month of August on preparing your home. Visit this link to see our latest episodes (https://thenewwestguys.com/our-podcast/). If you haven’t listened yet, our podcast is a hit! We are getting more and more regular listeners every week. We hope you will try it out.

Matt & Jeremy

Matt’s New West market update:

We are only two weeks into January and usually there isn’t enough activity to make any inferences at all. This year is different! There is already a lot of activity in all price bands. That means consumer confidence in long term values. That means there is a sense of urgency among buyers. And that could be a result of mortgage rules changing. Buyers with a pre-approval in place have a window of opportunity to make a purchase under the old rules. That could be a primary driving force. A strong start usually means a very strong Spring with high sales volume.

Property Assessments were released at the start of the month. I’ve already heard from several past clients to discuss appealing. If this has crossed your mind please read my blog (https://mattbrabbins.ca/blog/) and/or watch the included video.

Please help my business with any leads you can think of. I’m right on top of the market right now, and my client list is very short. I have all the tools to put to work. Please, help me put my expertise to good use.

Market Update & Predictions

New Westminster Condos – 2017 Fall Market Update & Predictions

Condos are STRONG! Why? Because people can afford them! Competition happens where there is the most interest. Don’t get me wrong, people are interested in houses, but a lot fewer people can afford a house, so there is more activity in the condo segment.

Buyers are watching condo prices continuing to rise. Young people want their first home, small families want a bigger condo and investors want in on the action too. The hottest segment is the low end of the condo market. It’s the most affordable, so there’s a group of buyers fighting to get into this neighbourhood while it’s still within their budget.

We are reaching the peak. We can already see prices settling in at the top end of the condo market. That will trickle down the price bands as the year comes to an end and we should see stabilizing prices.

New Westminster Houses – 2017 Fall Market Update & Predictions

House sales volume and prices have both taken a hit. Buyers are out there. They can feel that the pressure is off and they have time to make a decision, so they’re taking their time and picking just the right home, for the right price. New West buyers are not getting fooled or pressured into over-paying before someone else does. The houses that have too many compromises are getting over-looked and sitting on the market. Buyers are getting picky, because they can.

Expect further softening of the detached market while buyers bask in the luxury of time to reflect on their million, or multi-million dollar purchase.

Where is the market headed to close out 2017?

The big if, maybe, or what the ….? What impact will the lending rules have? They take affect Jan 1 2018. It is expected that they could drive up prices to close out 2017 as buyers rush to get in before the rules reduce their buying power. Then the limiting buying power could push prices down for the first quarter of 2018. As is almost always the trend, the Spring will bring more activity, competition and possibly drive prices up.

I suspect that if prices start to rise they will settle right back around whatever peak they dropped from in the first place. Market factors in and around New West seem to change monthly. I’ll have a new prediction by the end of November.

Simply considering what’s happening at this moment, the trend is toward stable prices, after some feeling out of the new lending rules.