February is not looking like January-for good & bad.  The good is Buyers are coming back & that's reflected in the sale prices & how fast listings are selling.  The bad is that there aren't enough listings yet.

What could encourage home owners to sell?  Better headlines would be a great start.  Business in Vancouver wrote about the changing market this week.  No one is ready to call this a trend yet, but it is encouraging to see this much activity.

People are more likely to follow then lead so once word gets out that the market is warming up, I'm hopeful that Sellers will be encouraged to think about listing their homes.

Of course Sellers need something to buy too so more listings would also help.  

What areas are most active?  Vancouver, North Vancouver, & Richmond all have Buyers actively looking & buying.  A lot of the headlines refer to Greater Vancouver so important to know what's hot & what's not.

That's what it felt like this week when I set up an evening showing only to find many other Buyers there to see it  & an inspection in process.  Yes, it's a popular area, yes, it was priced just under $1million, & yes, there aren't any listings coming on.  I get it.  This was also the first time in a long time I've seen Direction of Offers with day & time.  It's February 2023 NOT 2022!

Curious to find out how many offers & how much over list for the sale price...or will it?

We won't know until next week when the Buyers' Rescission Period passes & I am curious about this one.  My Buyers decided not to write in a multiple & we also saw red flags in the structure.  What did the others notice?

Searching for new listings every day for clients in Vancouver & North Vancouver.  Days can go by without any listings in popular areas.  Buyers are still very price sensitive so if a listing is priced too high compared to recent sales, they won't be buying. 

What does this say about Sellers?  Nervous?  Haven't been able to find anything to buy?  Almost getting back to Buy First, Sell Second as it's so hard to find a new home.

Will there be a "Spring market" for listings?  Only time will tell

Yes, it's time to hit the open houses or make appointments to view homes.  Why?

You can only do so much online.  It's great for curating, eliminating homes with deal killers or getting some general information but...  you'll find when seeing homes in person, they either look better or worse than the photographs, a floorplan is everything for similar sized spaces, & you'll get a "feel" for the building, neighbours, & neighbourhood by seeing it in person.

This isn't just my opinion but also feedback from my clients who found it really made a difference to be in a home instead of looking at a home.  Try it!