Well, it’s been a tough month. From where I’m standing, what’s happening at the top of the US government has been deeply disappointing and alarming. There isn’t much for us to do except to take note and carry on with our businesses and lives with more gratitude for what we have in Canada, and an understanding that it certainly appears that the time may have come for our country to update some core strategies. Also that more effort needs to be made within our own communities and country to prevent extreme ideas from appearing, or becoming, mainstream.
I have little comment about what may or may not happen in our local real estate markets as a result of these external forces. People need places to live, rental rates remain strong, and our communities offer a safe and healthy lifestyle that is widely coveted. During the pandemic, everyone thought the real estate market would tank, but the opposite happened. Interest rates have come down and it’s my suspicion that they will keep coming down in Canada.
For Squamish, and for Whistler to a lesser extent, I like to keep tabs on what’s happening in the North Vancouver market. For detached dwellings in particular, inventory saw a sharp decline in January, with more properties selling for over asking (usually indicating multiple offers), and a notable reduction in the average and median days on market. What I’m seeing in the data has also been corroborated by Stilhavn agents working in that market. So that’s a noteworthy shift.
In Squamish in January, there were 27 sales, which is similar to the 5-year average of 29 January sales. Of these sales, 22 went for under asking, 2 went for asking, and 3 went over asking.
In Whistler in January,