Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island, 2014
July 2014, Market Analysis
The main real estate sales window on the Pacific Northwest Coast seems to have evolved into a Summer/Fall market.
This may be the case on Vancouver Island, on the Sunshine Coast, as well as on the Gulf Islands.
Secondary home/discretionary markets have a different pattern from primary residence/city markets. “By choice” regions have been slow to recover from this past six year downturn.
At this very beginning of July, the uptick does appear to be underway, although it’s not an even-handed recovery & most sales to date still remain in the entry-level residential category.
It’s essential for a seller (& their realtor) to showcase listings throughout the year, in order to attract that mainly non-local buyer profile…but the physicality timeline for this non-local potential buyer to visit an area/view properties will mainly occur in July/August/September/October….perhaps into early November, depending on Fall weather pattern.
Salt Spring Island
Along with this later arrival time, to view property opportunities, we are also seeing more “interviewing of areas” first.
With the “boomer” retirement wave just starting, & a strong desire from many Canadians from other provinces to choose a coastal retirement location, it makes sense that they might vacation here a good year or two before actually moving to a specific location.
Thus, Salt Spring & the Gulf Islands & Vancouver Island are in competition with each other…the potential purchaser has to “buy” the specific locale, first, before seriously looking at a property to purchase. Why here? Why not there? Serious questions!
The Internet search engines do allow a global discovery/audience. All that potential choice of destination, though, can make decision-making slower…if one can go anywhere for a retirement or a recreational choice, then that very broad choice parameter might lead to hesitation in decision…one wants “to be sure”.
Hmmm….
Regardless of market trend, it can take one to three years to sell a specific property in any particular secondary home area. Time is always a component in the choice dance. Buyers set markets, not sellers or realtors. It’s only very recently that buyers are once again looking at the secondary home/recreational marketplaces.
The good news? Slowly slowly that secondary home/recreational marketplace is on the uptick, after that 6 year downturn. While mainly busy in residential sales of properties below 700,000, in the Gulf Islands/on Vancouver Island, the “real season” is just beginning…by October, sales should be occurring in all property segments.
Li Read Group
For Salt Spring Island, the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island? Slow but sure recovery…& eventually activity will be seen in all price points/property types.
Our market sales window has truncated down to July/August/September/October.Offers may come in later, but chances are that the viewing took place in those four intense months.
If a realtor is actively presenting a property, year-long, then a seller needs to have faith that they will deliver a buyer in the physicality timeline. The sale process is a slow one, for many reasons, in all secondary home markets.
In lieu of a monthly market update, this 2014 recovery year, I plan to let July/August take place…by mid-September, the shift should be clear, with provable statistics. Will report back in with verifiable statistics then, as opposed to reasoned projections right now. Important to let the beginning weeks of our “real market” take place. The rhythm/speed of our recovery is not yet totally clear.
Meantime, any questions, please contact me. I offer weekly driveby lists of all listed properties (not just board related options), plus weekly “solds to date” reports of all sales (not just board related options). The full information is thus always possible with me.
In September, I will report back with the total “actuality”, to that point. Meantime, it’s Summer, in the supremely beautiful Pacific Northwest Coast…enjoy!
Looking for your special piece of paradise? Your best interests are my motivation.
Whether buying or selling, please contact me for excellent service & all information. Knowledge is key.
June 2014, Market Analysis
Well, here we are at the beginning of June, a half-way point in our calendar year…yet only the beginning of our main sales window in our secondary home/discretionary marketplace.
Our busiest viewings/potential sales timeline has truncated down to mid-May (two holiday weekends) to mid-October (Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend). The most active months are July/August/September.
These summer season months dovetail with the boating season in our beautiful protected marine environment.
It used to be that our Salt Spring Island & Gulf Islands destinations were seen as “seasonless”…people would pop in as visitors & as potential buyers throughout the year, although with summer obviously still being the busiest time.
Post-Internet, though, decisions as to tourism destinations are global & Hawaii, Mexico, Florida, Arizona, Palm Desert, the Riviera, Spain, Portugal are seen as winter season ports of call…plus New Zealand & Australia, with their summer in our winter.
The entire Pacific Northwest Coast, then, has become this seasonally oriented tourist destination…late Spring, Summer, early Fall. I do believe that tourism drives real estate sales in all discretionary regions, & globally so. A shortening of a visitor timeline affects all resort-based area business.
Post-Internet, a potential property buyer also has huge choice as to where to buy that second home, whether for future retirement or recreational for now….
Choice. Too much choice means that it’s difficult to make a decision. An extra element of the post-Internet world.
Time lags for many reasons are a feature of all purchases in any secondary home/discretionary region…including on Salt Spring & the Southern Gulf Islands. Patience, then, is necessary on the part of both sellers & realtors. The buyer propels a market in any “by choice” area.
After a long six years of suppressed conditions, with price reductions between 29 & 45%, depending on property involved, with properties remaining on the market between 2 & 7 years, this year has so far seen a serious uptick in sales volume activity on Salt Spring Island.
Though still mainly busy in the entry-level property segment, the inventory in this category has also been “thinning out” & price points have thus been rising…it was the busiest March Break in six years. This early point in our ever shorter sales window usually foretells our main selling season…summer/early Fall. All good news, then, at this beginning of June moment.
June is often oddly quiet, until the final week. Until summer, it’s a weekend business. The Gulf Islands are recipient markets, buyers are not local, & a tourist visit often creates a real estate sales result.
To date, most sales remain below $800,000, mainly residential…with the majority of sales below $600,000. A scant handful of sales are over one million. These are early days in our short seasonal market, & a true picture of this 2014 “year of recovery” may not be clear until late August.
One marker of authentic market shift, in an upward direction, would be the resurgence of the undeveloped land category.
There are many societal shifts underway right now. A seeking of a safe haven might be the reason for a return of interest to the secondary home marketplaces…including in the Canadian Gulf Islands.
The ability to be self-sufficient, the proximity to major centres, the peaceful allure of yesteryear in everyday life, the sense of community with all the 21st Century amenities at hand, with a temperate micro-climate, & in the heart of the best protected boating waters in the world…Salt Spring Island & the Gulf Islands are practically perfect.
Looking for your dream Island property? Call me! Your best interests are my motivation. I work for you!
There are many stellar properties awaiting your discovery: waterfronts, oceanviews, farms, vineyards, building opportunities, commercial/business options, acreages/lots…call me, & let’s view. This may be the tail-end of the buyers market….
How may I help you to buy your Salt Spring Island or Southern Gulf Islands property?
May 2014, Market Analysis
May to October is now our main window of opportunity for real estate viewings/subsequent sales, in our specific secondary home/discretionary marketplace.
Perhaps the two May holiday weekends (Victoria Day & Memorial Day) are the busier May times…June is often a quieter month, until the last few days…the July 1 & 4 holidays begin our summer season…with mid-July to end of September being the busiest months for property showings.
Offers may come in at other times, but it’s probable that the initial viewings took place in that May to October timeline.
A secondary home market is always about choice.
A secondary home market is always about choice. The buyer sets the pace. Sellers & realtors present, & try to attract the buyer side, but it’s the buyer who decides the “where” & the “when” of a property purchase in a discretionary region.
Globally, the secondary home/resort-based areas all suffered after the economic meltdowns of late 2008. In many such discretionary areas, the slow-down in sales actually began as early as 2006.
Certainly, on Salt Spring Island, & on the other Gulf Islands, sales volume lessened pre-2008 & prices began to soften dramatically. Sellers did not appreciate the downward signs…it was a slow & steady down trend…in the end, appraisers were stating that prices had reduced by 29% to 45%, with 2006 to 2008 as the start dates of this down trend, leading to the close of 2013.
It may be that 2014 will prove to be the year of recovery in the Gulf Islands & on Vancouver Island. It’s a slow pace.
At the moment, at this early May time, the busy segment remains the entry-level priced residential category.
As inventory “thins”, we may see a move into sales of raw land…one might be able to buy a lot/build a dwelling for less than a renovation of a dated entry-level priced home. That will signal an authentic market recovery.
Some higher priced residential options are slowly finding interest, although they have markedly reduced in price point & have accepted a still lower price at the point of the offer. As inventory also begins to “thin” in this $900,000 to 2 million priced segment, we will see price stability build in…this may not be evident till late Fall.
In these beginning days of what has become our main (& very seasonal) sales window, in our specific secondary home/discretionary coastal marketplace, it can be noted that the recovery is softly underway.
Investment properties are also seeing interest from a Mainland Chinese buyer…Sunshine Coast & Vancouver Island communities have benefited from this buyer profile. To date, on Salt Spring, some waterfront residential options have sold to Chinese buyers, & interest in commercial/investment holdings has just begun.
So…poised for recovery, at the beginning of May. The true buyers market has ended.
In the upper tier priced residential properties, there will be “deals” short-term. The key is the inventory clean-out rate.
It’s not a sellers market by any means, but neither is it a buyers market. Transitional markets don’t last…a market rarely rests in equilibrium…it’s either going down or going up. It appears to be an upward trend.
Will be interesting to look back, after the activity of the next 5 to 6 months…my guess: low inventory, stable prices, slow price point uptick.
More information on the market & how you can benefit from the changes? Call me! “Caring expertise…knowledge for you”.
April 2014, Market Analysis
Our very seasonal Gulf Islands real estate sales market now takes place between March Break & Thanksgiving Weekend. March Break was the busiest I’ve seen it in almost six years. A very good sign.
A good foretelling …
March Break usually foretells the rhythm of the summer season. Yes, it’s still mainly active in entry level residential, but the action is steady & is clearing out a lot of inventory.
At this early moment in the sales cycle, the business always takes place in that entry level residential category. In the main, single family home properties listed between 300,000 & 600,000 catch the most attention…3 bed/2 bath, with rental options. Recreational cottage properties, even waterfronts, remain quiet. These buyers usually arrive later in the season…perhaps tied to the boating season.
As we continue along our market cycle, however, I think we will find sales volume occurring in all property prices & types, including in some undeveloped land opportunities.
I’ve always thought that raw land sales mark the turn into a true sellers market. Buyers are again willing to hold land as an investment, or to develop it? Then we’ve turned a corner into sellers market territory.
I think 2014 will be the year of total recovery in the secondary home marketplace, but it may take until late October to fully understand the dynamics…right now, we’re just at the beginning of the shift into better times.
Down markets have beginnings/middles/ends…transition markets also have beginnings/middles/ends…I think we’re at the end of the beginning of a transition between a down & an up market.
In a transition, everything is there at same time: price reductions, price stability, price increases…buyer insecurity & reluctance, buyer rush to secure a safe haven investment…downward worries, upward enthusiasm. It’s all swirling around at the same time.
Nothing remains down or up; a market is a wave pattern…the slide up the wave does seem to be underway, at last, in all secondary home/discretionary areas, & globally so. Two years ago, one couldn’t give away recreational retreat properties in Greece or Spain or Portugal. Now, these markets are hopping!
The Pacific Northwest Coast (including Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island & the other Gulf Islands) has always been the tail of the dog: last to go down & last to go up. Finally the uptick experienced in other discretionary regions has arrived here.
As this season progresses, then, we can expect to see consistent sales volume. As inventory decreases, with little new coming onstream to replace it, we will see price stability. This will segue into price increases as that good old economic axiom kicks in: the law of supply & demand drives real estate markets.
It may be that a seeking of a safe haven is the motivating force behind the interest in the Gulf Islands. The buyer profile may have changed, but the desire to own beauty, privacy, with proximity to major centres, combined with an easy apartness & a cap on growth (Islands Trust), all ensures that the Islands will always find their special & appreciative buyer.
There are many societal changes afoot, mostly as a result of the internet’s broad brush scrubbing through. The real estate industry has changed & continues to do so.
The treading water inaction in real estate sales, though, in the secondary home/rural marketplace, over the past five to six years, is over.
It will be very interesting to arrive at early November & look back at the pattern of this clearly shift year. We have just started our season & the good news is that March Break was busy! Let’s see what April & Easter Break bring….
The uptick is not uniform in occurrence, every property & area sells in its own time, but eventually all sellers will have the opportunity to sell. Buyer desire is back.
Should a seller sell? Might it make better sense to hold an Island investment, if possible? Hmmm…that’s definitely a sellers market quandary!
Buyers interested in a Salt Spring & Gulf Islands purchase are seeking the opportunity to enjoy that yesteryear lifestyle, with all the conveniences of “now”. The Trust’s zoning/bylaws to control growth, in place since 1974, mean limited inventory over time. That seems to spell protected investment.
In change, lies opportunity.
More information on current market trend & how you can benefit from it? Call me!
Your best interests are my motivation.
March 2014, Market Analysis
A Market Recovery?
March, 2014 – Salt Spring Island Real Estate Analysis
A recovery in the secondary home/recreational market seems to be underway…signs of slow sales volume momentum are globally visible. It has been a long five to six years of buyer inaction in all discretionary regions.
The second home/resort-based areas, globally, suffered hugely after the 2008 economic collapses. No one “has to” buy a vacation home or retire to a second home…it’s always a “by choice” decision.
Buyers decide outcomes in secondary home markets, & the decision to purchase a recreational or retirement property depends on consumer confidence.
Salt Spring Island, the Gulf Islands, & tourism driven communities on Vancouver Island all experienced a significant downturn between late 2008 & mid 2013. Some appraisers & realtors noted a slowdown in activity as early as 2006. The consistent loss in value was felt world-wide in such marketplaces over the past five years.
Values on the Gulf Islands & on Vancouver Island reportedly dropped between 29% & 45%, depending on location & type of property. In Spain & Portugal, it was reported that recreational properties dropped in value by as much as 70%.
Realty companies/realtors kept reducing prices, in a search for “the bottom”. This price cutting does not work in a recreational region…if a buyer does not want to buy, then nothing will happen.
Fear has various faces. After little action in 2009 & 2010, there was a flurry of specific activity in 2011. Rental properties began to find buyers…these were not end-users. Family homes, older dwellings, excellent rentals, found investor-buyers. The action was only in the entry level residential category. Was this a move into real estate out of concern that the stock market was too volatile & interest rates too suppressed by banks? Investors were the main movers of sales action from early 2011 to mid 2012.
In 2012, it remained softly active in the same entry level residential segment, but end-users began to reappear. Also, as sales consistently occurred (without many properties coming onstream to replace the slow “solds”), the price ceiling of entry level began to rise.
In 2011, most sales were below 400,000. By 2013, the bulk of sales were below 800,000.
Each year, there were random & scant sales between one & two million…mainly residential oceanfront. In most cases, they had severely reduced in price before selling. Undeveloped land opportunities & commercial/business options remained flat throughout.
January & February usually continue the November/December pattern of the previous year…2014 has been no exception.
Our market region has become ever more seasonal…the grid of sales activity now falls between March Break & the Canadian Thanksgiving (early October). The busiest months within this timeline might be May, July, August, September.
We are just beginning the 2014 rhythm, then, at this beginning of March moment. It’s still an optimum time to be a buyer…
Projections are calling for renewed interest in undeveloped land…either as a holding property or as a building opportunity. I have always seen land sales as a marker of a buoyant market. Sales of raw land are a strong signal of recovery.
It also is being projected that 2014 is the time of a resurgence in action in the upper tier priced residential properties. The affluent global investor is looking for special properties in special places…with a safe haven aspect to the region. Perhaps a concern over currency instability is driving this higher end property segment…a safe haven seeking, both personally and as a preservation of capital move, can be a strong motivator to real estate activity in the luxury property market. Inquiries on properties between two & five million are occurring.
Tourism, in the secondary home/recreational regions, does encourage real estate sales. People visit, fall in love with an area, buy a home or a lot, & suddenly all other businesses thrive…designers, contractors, restaurants, soft furnishing providers, etc etc etc…it’s like a train, & it starts with tourism & real estate sales.
Slowly, tourism is recovering on Salt Spring, on the Gulf Islands, & on Vancouver Island. All good news, then.
A concern over B.C. Ferries, & its decision to cut costs by cutting service/raising fares on smaller coastal routes, is being fought by affected communities. These route cuts/fare hikes might hamper tourism. If you’re an islander, get in touch with your Chamber of Commerce, & be involved in this important matter.
So, with the spyglass of projection up to the eye, at the beginning of March, it does appear that sales will be consistent in the secondary home markets. It may be that sales volume will rise, but prices remain stable. Inventory in all property segments will have to clear out before prices rise. The close of 2014 should show strong signs of a recovered discretionary marketplace.
Looking for specific sales information for Salt Spring & the Gulf Islands? Vancouver Island recreational communities? Call me! In a transition period, it’s important to keep up to date. No rear view mirror thinking!
Looking for a Salt Spring Island or Gulf Island property? Call me! I look forward to bringing my knowledge (of inventory & of trends) to your benefit. My motivation is your successful outcome.
Call me for full information on all listed properties & all “solds” statistics…regardless of real estate board involved. Salt Spring & the Gulf Islands are in a “grey area”, which means three boards overlap…I offer full information regardless of which board a particular realtor chooses to affiliate with. I have access to all boards. Don’t miss out…call me! You will discover the entire listing inventory with me.
Residential, farms, vineyards, building lots/acreages, estates, private islands, commercial/investment, oceanfront, lakefront, recreational…it’s all here, in all price ranges, & I look forward to introducing the island & all its fine properties to you.
