August 2012, Market Analysis

Eurozone continues to implode. Or does it? Up to the brink & then words from the European Central Bank that they will do whatever it takes, to preserve the euro economic union. Does that mean printing more money? Is it a bid to inflate out of debt?

U.S. election insecurity continues. Until the votes are counted and the winner declared, we will hear & see a battle between two totally opposite mindsets…the individual vs the collective voice.

Secondary home/discretionary regions remain sporadic in sales volume…such purchases are by choice. No one “has to” buy a second home or retreat property, no matter how engaging the area might be. An ocean experience? A mountain getaway? What about a lake enclave? A desert or a forest retreat? And on which continent? That’s the interesting thing about that great & hungry search facility…it makes some place in competition with every place. We are McLuhan’s “global village”.

Nothing can be relied on that once seemed so secure. Remember the Lewis Carroll sequel to Alice in Wonderland? Titled Alice Through The Looking-Glass, it noted that one had to run very fast just to stay still…if you stopped, then everything else, trees, animals, people, objects, just whizzed by. Hmmm…is that the description of our 21st Century experience?

Certainly, change is the mantra of the moment. In change, there is discovery. And opportunity. To make it all possible, the need for an editing function has never been so necessary. Undifferentiated data is not information. Interpretation could be the gift.

Locally, we are noting a significant sales volume uptick in residential properties below 900,000, with most action below 600,000. The one million and up category is beginning to see stronger inquiries. A slow recovery appears to be underway in the secondary home/discretionary marketplace, & globally so. Prices are not yet stable, and reductions continue to take place at the point of an offer. Our main sales window in our basically seasonless marketplace is mid-July to mid-October, so this is “it”, right now.

We may be in year 7 of a 7 to 10 year cycle, which implies improvement. The economic issues from 2008’s meltdown continue to have impact…nowhere is immune in our connected universe.

Meantime, back on the Island, the pause that renews awaits your pleasure. It’s always a good time to buy if it’s your time. You’ll know when that is.

The Island offers environmental protection. It offers all 21st Century necessities. It offers a yesteryear experience of community. It offers a thoughtful pause. It offers ease of access and the comfort of familiarity. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close! I call that the right kind of investment.

2 thoughts on “August 2012, Market Analysis

  1. Pingback: July 2013, Market Analysis, Salt Spring Island, BC

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