Keeping it Real
Meet Jacquie McCarnan your host for Keeping it Real, the Vancouver and area residential real estate podcast that aims to demystify all things real estate in our crazy market.
Jacquie has been a licensed Realtor since 2016 and, in that time, has come across just about every scenario you can think of in our residential market. From hoarder homes to those for sale by owners to crazy strata situations and more, Jacquie provides real stories to help you navigate real estate in Vancouver and surrounding areas.
Each episode of Keeping it Real is short and to the point and provides you with great information about the topic discussed. Jacquie is always available to answer more in-depth questions and is happy to feature your own experience in future episodes.
Episodes also contain additional, non-real estate info about local businesses, experiences, and hidden gems around town that will make you sound like a local expert!
If you live in Vancouver or surrounding areas you know that the #1 thing people talk about is real estate (then the weather) if you want to sound knowledgeable and up to date on the real estate part listen weekly to hear topical issues that affect our market. We try to pick the most interesting and current issues to demystify each week and eagerly anticipate your input.
Join us every week for the very newest info on residential real estate in Vancouver and area.
Keeping it Real
Ep. 39 Interest Rate Cut Ignites North Van Real Estate! Plus, Top Holiday Volunteer Spots
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Can a simple interest rate adjustment turn the tide in a real estate market? Join me, Jacquie McCarnan, as I explore the Bank of Canada's recent 0.5% interest rate cut and its ripple effects on North Vancouver's property scene. We'll dissect how this strategic move has transformed a sluggish buyer's market into an exciting seller's arena, with newfound energy driving up sales across single-family homes, townhouses, and condos. For buyers, it's a double-edged sword of increased borrowing power and fierce competition, while sellers ponder the perfect moment to list. Tune in to gain insights into these market shifts and what they mean for your real estate journey.
But that's not all; I'm also spotlighting ways to connect with the North Vancouver community as the holiday season approaches. Discover my top 10 volunteer opportunities to give back in meaningful ways, all detailed on the northvancares.com blog. Whether you're looking to lend a hand or just feel the warmth of the season's spirit, these opportunities are a fantastic way to engage with your neighbors. I'm thrilled to share these initiatives with listeners who are eager to make a difference. Join me for a balanced mix of real estate updates and community highlights, keeping it real in both property and people connections.
Hey everybody, welcome back to Keeping it Real, the Vancouver and area residential real estate podcast that aims to, you know, keep things real. Obviously my name is Jackie McCarnan and I am your host for Keeping it Real. I'm a North Van residential realtor and basically I live this stuff. I'm forever checking the stats and watching what the market is doing and paying attention to all kinds of things that affect our market here on the North Shore of beautiful Vancouver, british Columbia. This is episode 39 of Keeping it Real and I've been trying really hard to just keep you guys informed about what's happening in real time. So not much of my content is evergreen, meaning you can go back and listen to it over and over again, but there are a couple of episodes that are evergreen episodes. Most of the episodes are meant to be listened to in real time or within a week or two of the recording, and that's certainly the case for this episode today.
Speaker 1:Unless you live under a rock or don't really care about real estate which no one ever said in Vancouver you will know that the mortgage rates, the Bank of Canada dropped their rates by 0.5% last Wednesday, a week ago, so a week and a half ago by the time this airs and that has had, finally, the intended significant effect on our market. So over the last several months, the Bank of Canada has reduced the rate a number of times and we did not really see a whole lot of movement in the market. And with this new drop, what's happening is considerably different, a different outlook. If you've listened to the show before, you'd know that normally I have a little break in here where I throw some music and it gets all fancy. But I'm not going to do that today. I'm just going to get right to it and this is not going to be a super long episode, but I wanted to let you know really exactly what is happening in the North Vancouver market at the moment.
Speaker 1:So if you listen to the past episodes for August and September, you realize that even with the drops in interest rates, we were not seeing a significant uptick in buyer activity buyer activity, in fact. What we saw instead, which almost nobody predicted well, I don't think anybody predicted it, because it's not a generalized sort of market factor that usually happens but what we saw instead was the interest rates dropped and then all those people who thought that they were going to make a fortune on their house and missed out in 2022, listed their homes for sale and saturated the market with listings. So in August and September we had a ton of listings on the market and buyers were like I don't think. So we kind of expected that in September buyer activity would pick up considerably, because the fall market is generally kind of the second best market after spring historically, and again that didn't happen. The statistics did not bear that out. In fact, the stats for August and September showed us in a very unusual state here in the lower mainland, which is called a buyer's market. I've been over this a few times, but basically a buyer's market means that there are lots and lots of listings and not very many buyers, and so listings sit stale on the market for months and buyers are then kind of in the driver's seats. They can, you know, undercut the asking price, and we will talk about asking price another time. But just let's just suffice to say asking price is super subjective and can be made up by any number of factors, but mostly it's the seller and their realtor who determine what the asking price is, and hopefully it's based on recent comparables in the neighborhood, hopefully.
Speaker 1:Anyway, just to get into some actual statistics, so since October 1st, there have been 133 new single family homes listed for sale in North Vancouver. Now I cannot I'm not going to go through all 133 of them to tell you whether those are relistings or if they're all new listings. I would suggest that it's probably 70-30, but that's just an educated guess. And we had 35 sales, which is a much more significant number than we have seen in the past, where we were seeing 11 sales in a month or nine, or whatever it was. You'll have to go back and listen. I didn't, but I'm just kind of pulling it from my memory. I always like to break up the attached stuff into townhomes and condos. So we had 57 new townhouses listed and 20 sales, so that is closer to balanced and heading toward a seller's market. And then for condos, we had 175 new listings and 56 sales. So all of these sales numbers 35 single family homes, 20 townhouses and 56 condos is a significant jump from what we have seen over the last two months, and a big part of that is definitely due to the reduction in interest rates that we are seeing as now a trend rather than just a couple of one-offs.
Speaker 1:I just want to go through and explain this, for if all you wanted were the stats. You can probably turn this off now, and if you want to hear just a little bit more about how things work and what kind of predictions are happening, I tend not to make predictions, I only like to comment on what's happening in today's market, but I just want to go through a couple of things. So, for example, why are we shifting into a seller's market and what does that mean for buyers? Obviously, the interest rate drops that we've seen recently means that buyers can borrow more money, and you know that's great news for buyers. So it allows first-time homebuyers to jump into the market where they may not have been able to before because of the higher rates. Buyers need to be ready, because we're going to start to see some increased competition. We're already seeing that now. I put out a note to my colleagues in the Lower Mainland on one of our Facebook pages to see how many people are getting multiple offers, and we're starting to see that a lot more now than we have in the last several months.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're a seller, should you wait or should you list now? I have been telling you to wait for the last eight months. A lot of factors are at play with sellers. Let's say you are in a condo and your depreciation report states that 2025 is going to be a time when you have a bunch of capital expenses come up. Maybe you want to sell before those are voted on. You're well within your right to do that. So then this would be a great time to sell, but you don't want to wait too far, too much longer. We don't want to be listing like middle of December that's difficult till spring. Historically, the spring market is a better choice, but we cannot. We have no idea what things are going to look like in the spring. Predictions are that rates may continue to drop. We don't know for sure. I can only tell you that today is a great time to sell your home, like based on what we've been seeing in the lower well, in North Vancouver for sure.
Speaker 1:In the last little bit, I will say to you that if you are even thinking of selling, give me a call. I will come over and tell you all the things you can do to zhuzh up your place, and in fact, I have done. On the blog posts for this week I did top 10 lists, so top 10 buyer tips, top 10 seller tips. This week I did top 10 lists. So top 10 buyer tips, top 10 seller tips, top 10 first time home buyer tips and top 10 volunteer opportunities in North Vancouver, because I want you guys to have some checklists that you can go through if you are thinking of buying or selling.
Speaker 1:So, if you remember, back to 2022, we were in a similar sort of market where things were moving very quickly and we were in multiple offers. That's one of the reasons that the provincial government implemented the rescission period, the three-day rescission period on residential home sales. I have an article on that somewhere on my blog. But essentially, you can put an offer on a place, the offer gets accepted and then you have three days to rescind that offer for any reason, but there is a penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price agreed upon that you will then owe the seller. So even for something that is only, say, $600,000, that's a $1,500 debt you will owe to the seller if you rescind. So think carefully, don't just be making offers willy-nilly. I mean, I walk my clients through everything they need to know. It's important, but I have some tricks too, for if you are in um, if if you're my client and we find ourselves in a multiple offer situation. I have a very good uh history of winning those multiple offers. So there are lots of things that can be done and I have some tips and tricks that will um, that will help you to win at multiples If we get into that.
Speaker 1:Um, another couple of things to talk about, like is it worth waiting to the spring? I don't know. What happens usually is that, like, our inventory is fairly static right now. We're going to have to sell through what's sitting there, but those older listings aren't selling as well as the new listings. So if you come out with a new listing, you're going to get a lot of attention because buyers are so active right now, so they are looking at those new listings. I think a savvy buyer's agent will look at older listings and see the opportunity there. But I think if you are thinking about selling now versus the spring, it's six of one, half dozen the other. I can't predict what's going to happen in the spring, but I absolutely could get you a great price for your place right now. I think that pretty much walks you through all of the things that you need to know about what's happening in the market at the moment.
Speaker 1:As promised, this was a super down and dirty podcast episode so that I could get you guys updated on what's happening. I'm, as it turns out, because of this new market activity, I am super busy with real estate, but I am never too busy to have a conversation with you about your needs, whether that be buying or selling. So give me a call or text me. Those are the fastest ways to get in touch with me. You can send an email if you want to, but the other two ways are way faster. So, if you're even thinking about selling or thinking about buying, get in touch with me sooner rather than later, because the strategy about both of those things is going to be so much more important moving into this busier market, and there's nothing I like better than strategy.
Speaker 1:All right, kids, thanks so much for listening in. I'm going to add the music here so that you don't feel like you missed out on the super swanky podcast music. Yeah, have a fantastic. Well, last night was Halloween, so I hope you had a wonderful Halloween. Uh, I'm pretty sure, even though it's actually tomorrow night, cause I'm recording this on Wednesday. Um, I'm sure that it's going to be amazing, probably a little damp, but that's okay.
Speaker 1:As you know, you can get keeping it real anywhere. You get your podcasts, including Spotify and Apple podcast, and you can get it at northvanhomesalescom slash podcasts and if you end up over on my site, I have a bunch of blog posts that I put up today three new ones. All of them are top 10 lists, and you can get the top 10 great places to volunteer here in North Van on the northvancarescom website blog, which is super fun. As we are starting to come into the holiday season, a lot of people are always looking for ways to help their neighbors, and I really wanted to put together a comprehensive list of where you can do that. I mean, I'm going to be doing it, of course, because, as you know, I always do that sort of thing. Have a fantastic weekend and I will see you next week.
