Tag Archives: marketing

May 2013, Market Analysis

Ch-Ann

Recently watched a cable t.v. knowledge network style bio on a local game designer…he was one of a few game programmers/designers to be given new virtual tour equipment, to see what kind of game he could come up with, in using it. Wow! There’s the 21st century for you. A small town techie on a par with silicon valley style locations.

Beyond the “anyone anywhere can invent the future” scenario, though, lives (perhaps) the next great thing.

If within 2 to 5 years virtual reality will be seamless & everywhere, a guesstimate by this game designer, then why will we need real malls, real storefronts, real showrooms, real offices…already the retail world is moving online, the most recent recipient of that Internet eraser.

Salt Spring Island

Salt Spring Island


What will our world look like in 5 years, when this gamer thinks virtual reality will be mainstream?

Will we need real schools? Will we have offices seemingly “there”, but just virtual versions? Retail will be virtual? What will home designs look like?

Hmmm…ok imagineers, it’s change that brings opportunity. Time to be creatively thinking.

And specifically, as it’s my current world, what effect will virtual reality have on real estate marketing?

And your thoughts are? Always welcome!

Locally, our real estate sales window has now become May, June, July, August, September…with the reminder that the first three weeks of June are always quiet.

A short and intense timeline, thus. People search all the time & year round, so it’s important to “be there”, on all the internet opportunities. Otherwise, areas won’t be discovered…people won’t come. So, marketing is a year round business and physicality is a 6 month affair with 3 months being the busiest. Hmmm….

In 2012, we saw a substantial increase in sales volume in entry level residential options. In the main, sales were below 400,000…best described as investments, with rental potential. Prices were not stable and reductions continued, in that search for the bottom. A handful of sales in higher end properties, towards year’s end, in waterfronts, was perhaps a sign of a move back into authentic real estate investment in unique areas. Many of these offerings had been on market for 4 to 7 years, & in spite of reductions in price, en route, there were further reductions at point of the offer.

The first quarter of 2013 has been oddly flat in sales. It may be that a digesting moment is underway: concerns over currency instability, the perceived over-creation of paper monies, banks not easily lending, the Cyprus issue, the threat of terrorism in North America, the intermingling of inflation & deflation scenarios, the search for a safe haven, the desire for sustainability…it’s a mix of all things, and the bottom line could be a flight to hard asset investment as a way to preserve capital.

Safe Haven Investing is my name for it, and Salt Spring Island & the Gulf Islands are beautifully positioned to deliver on this requirement: proximity plus being “apart”.

In many U.S. States, real estate has become very buoyant, with approximately 40% of sales to international buyers. And they are mainly cash sales.

I always feel that our area follows such statistics within 4 to 6 months. Thus, we may see this rush back to property by late July/early August…and there is not a large inventory of listings, as soon as one prioritizes type & price. Hmmm….

Treading water in May/June is perhaps a good idea. The trend for this year is just developing now.

If needing a sale, perhaps try to hang on till mid-July. Things are just starting to clarify.

If a buyer, an alert that the buyers conditions of the past 4 to 5 years may almost be over. These weeks may be the last time to discover a good residential offering at a price that recognizes the buyer point of view.

In either case, change is underway & is happening right now.

Hmmm. In change lies opportunity.

November 2012, Market Analysis

Here we are, easing from Fall Market into Winter.

This has been a continuing slow year in real estate sales, but it has been busier when compared to past three years.

There has been a definite rise in sales volume in the entry level priced residential segment, but only marginal action in the upper tier priced residential category.

Very substantial price reductions continue to come in, from all companies, in all property types. These reductions do not necessarily bring increased showings or offers. They do encourage other sellers to follow suit, in order to remain competitive in pricings. At the point of an offer, the buyer often delivers a further serious price reduction, in spite of consistent price drops en route.

So, sluggish conditions & further price instability, in entry level residential options. Lack of interest in undeveloped land choices. Little interest in commercial/business opportunities. Sporadic interest in upper tier priced residential offerings, & very significant reductions at the offer point, in most cases. It remains a very uncertain market, then, with periods of inaction across the board.

It is marginally improving in that lower end priced segment, but there is no certainty that this means consistent stronger conditions on the horizon. Media reports, which share information from the recent past, are still highlighting gloom re economic statistics. In Canada, they talk about potential real estate bubbles.

So, Year 8 of an 8 to 10 year cycle now coming up?

Implying a resurgence in sales, though not in pricings? Perhaps…. Early Spring will tell the tale. It appears that the last two months of a year ease into first two months of the following year. Takes until March, then, to see any shifts.

A seller needs to be patient…in our kind of discretionary marketplace, the buyer is always in control of the where & the when of any purchase.

In this kind of uncertain economic time, price reductions don’t necessarily create a desire to act, on the part of a buyer.

No one has to buy a second home or retire in any particular timeframe or purchase a recreational or a holding property. It’s always by choice, in a secondary home market.

Confidence in the overall economy will generate buyer action in a discretionary region.

 

If price does propel action, it will be driven by such a steep price drop, so much lower than assessed or intrinsic value, that it cannot be ignored by a potentially interested buyer.

Even then, the buyer will have to be targeted towards this island, with some knowledge of the deep cuts over the past 3 to 4 years. It can take significant time from a discovery on the Internet to physicality on island, to view.

General inquiries are where a process may begin, but it can take a good two to three years for an outcome, regardless of market trend in play. Buyers do not have to hurry to a decision…there is no immediacy to action in a secondary home region.

What to do then, as a seller?

It’s important to remain visible on the digital options…targeted print, with an auxiliary Internet presence, perhaps…

…the Internet, though, is truly the driver to eventual outcomes, in our 21st Century business model. The Internet never sleeps. It has erased time & geography. If you’re for sale, you need to be visible there.

It’s all seasonless now, & when a buyer sees you, it’s all new to them. Time lags, from a seller’s perspective, are not part of the buyer’s perception. So, more patience on the part of any seller, in any discretionary area.

For several years on Salt Spring, a printed monthly real estate supplement, put out by our weekly newspaper, was the sole vehicle for advertising property listings. This all changed with the Internet search engine. This supplement has now gone from 12 issues to 7…it is always woefully out of date, as info is given to them, to print, a good two weeks before it appears. This old style print supplement is not seen until the buyer comes to the island…it does not “bring them”.

 

choice of a particular island

Marketing to the potential buyer now requires the ability to focus on & to encourage a choice of a particular island. The Internet certainly erased time & geography. It opened an area to a much wider audience. In doing so, it also opened up a broader choice…suddenly, “some place” was in competition with “every place”. Ah…more reasons for time lags. Can’t choose yet, because we haven’t seen it all yet! Too much choice creates reluctance to act? Perpetual looking is an outcome? Hmmmm….

Time…& yet not time…busy and yet not busy…rumours of improving trends in real estate at the same time as media reports from banks and government sources that further downturns are ahead…in a transition moment, all things are on the table, all at the same time. This kind of confusion often forecasts a significant shift. The question: up or down?

Not biz as usual is about all that one can say, firmly.

No matter the market trend, Salt Spring & the Gulf Islands offer spectacular lifestyle opportunities. It’s always a good time to be a buyer, if the time is right for you. It’s always a personal choice in a discretionary area.

July 2012, Salt Spring Island Real Estate Market Analysis

The short intensity of our “season” is upon us…July/August/Sept/October are the physicality moments on Island, for actual viewings.

Inquiries come in year-round, but physical presence to view happens in this short window. Often, when an offer comes in during other months, it turns out that the viewing of the property occurred during these four key months.

These months are also considered to be the best, weather-wise, in our region…definitely a correlation, then, re this timing issue.

Tourism has been the start of sales action in our Gulf Islands environment. People arrive by private boat, by ferry/car, by floatplane…they stay, meander the charms of Ganges Village & discover the environmental beauties of the Island itself…then they decide on a second home/recreational retreat or, if possible, retire & move here, to discover a new lifestyle.

No one “has to” buy on Salt Spring or on another Gulf Island…..it’s all by choice.

This discretionary quality can often mean time lags in decisions. Important for a seller to be “out there”, though, so that a buyer searching on the internet can discover their property option…even though months may go by before they turn up to view & more months may pass before a sales transaction takes place. There is no motivator to action…it’s all at the discretion of the buyer.

Sellers need to be patient & realtors need to be consistent in their marketing message. The Internet has totally changed real estate as an industry, and this is especially evident in the secondary home marketplace. The consumer is now in control, and in a secondary home/resort-based area, the consumer controls the where and the when of all sales.

That said, both the tourism discovery and the weather pattern that attracts, in this coastal region, are underway.

For the first time in almost four years, buyers are back in our area. Appraisers feel that prices dropped around 35% between mid-2007 and mid-2012. Sales volume this year, however, has gone up over last by around 40%.

The sales activity between January 1 & end of June has mainly been in the entry level residential category. Starting in mid-April, the buyer was having to come closer to a seller in offer price point…before that, a seller had to drop further, never mind the reductions en route, to meet the buyer. The difference? Thinning inventory in the entry level residential segment creates price stability.

Prices in the upper tier priced residential options are not stable. The very few sales between one million and 1.5 still show large reductions at the point of the offer.

Undeveloped land sales and commercial property sales remain “flat”.

At this beginning moment, first of July, we may see a build-up of activity in the upper tier priced properties. Between 2007 and present day, most have seen price reductions in the millions…as they slowly capture a buyer’s attention, price points drop substantially further at point of the offer. In this still sticky segment, the buyer reluctance remains a factor.

So…price stability & thinning inventory in entry level residential, lack of consistent interest in upper tier residential, with accompanying severe price reductions when a sale does take place, and no interest yet in undeveloped land or in commercial opportunities. Hmmm…sounds like a market in flux, to me.

Markets are cyclical, and we may be in year 7 of a 7 to 10 year cycle…this implies a natural uptick in activity. Thinning inventory foretells price increases. Undeveloped land sales/new construction will follow, as good residential options sell off. The upper tier options will also improve in sales as a safe haven seeking continues to grow.

So important, in a shift moment, to be looking down the highway and not in the rear view mirror. A positive change is underway in real estate investing.

We are just entering our “season”…and the larger market cycle is slowly upticking. As a seller, this is good news for the first time in four years. For a buyer, it’s an alert to act now…that proverbial buyers market does not last forever, and by this time next year may have vanished entirely.

Perhaps this is the sales volume season?

More information? Call me! How may I help you to buy or to sell your special Island property? Look forward to bringing my knowledge (of both inventory and of trends) to your benefit.

May 2012, Salt Spring Island Real Estate Market Analysis

Copyright, Li Read, 2012

May, 2012.

It’s Spring in more ways than one…the slow uptick in the real estate market continues. Is this the renewed market everyone has been seeking?

Beginning days of improvement are underway, after the severe three year “Fall & Winter” flat/inaction in the hard asset investment choices…now there is a re-emergence of sales volume…are we in year 7 of a 7 to 10 year cycle? Perhaps.

If so, it’s a natural progression towards stability & growth. All markets follow cycles, and the feedback from all regions is that sales volume has jumped up in the entry level priced residential property category. Prices are still volatile.

This entry level pricings segment always improves first…in our local region, we have seen a sales volume uptick of around 30%, although the majority of sales to date are below 700,000…& most sales still fall below 500,000.

Prices are not stable and there are still serious price reductions at the point of an offer, in spite of earlier reductions en route to the offer.

Action in the upper tier priced residential category remains very spotty/flat…undeveloped land options & the commercial segment remain without interest.

Nevertheless, an increase in sales volume of around 30% in the first quarter is a sign of an emerging market. And in our specific area, this renewed activity is fully there at the beginning of our traditional “season”: May to early October. Good news, then, to have seen the first quarter busy when it should be & in the price level it should be. Timing is key to all markets.

Throughout North America, strong sales & thinning inventory are the outcomes of this first quarter activity, & this is now the case in secondary home/discretionary regions, too. Something new! Yes, the strong sales action is mainly in entry level priced residential properties, but this activity is seen across the board.

By July, all media options (they are always behind a market trend, as have to rely on statistics from past months) will be reporting this shift into renewed buyer action.

Why now? Perhaps the fear that cash is eroding as a means to preserve capital is making buyers reappear? Currencies are suddenly perceived as insecure, & there’s a growing desire for a safe haven, a seeking to be self-sufficient, a fear of the stock market’s volatility?…these all might be some reasons for the return to hard asset investment choices, & a resurgence in interest in discretionary properties. Suddenly, a purchase of a unique property in an area like the Gulf Islands is perceived as a good holding.

With huge uptick in entry level sales, which brings strengthening of prices & thinning inventory, and at the time of year this traditionally happens (first quarter), we are positioned to now welcome upper tier priced property buyers, & investors in land. May, July, August, early September are the key months, traditionally, for that investor buyer to appear.

The property market in secondary home/discretionary regions slowed in 2006. Sales volume decreased & a pause was very evident by 2007. The economic collapses of 2008 afflicted all regions, globally.

Primary residence/city markets saw a soft uptick in entry level sales by 2010…the secondary home/resort based marketplaces remained sluggish. Low interest rates never seem to jumpstart action. Buyers set markets, not sellers or realtors. When a buyer is “on hold” (& no one “has to” buy a second home or retire in any particular timeframe), then nothing will happen in a discretionary marketplace.

Price reductions don’t drive action. Those sellers who had the option to do so, and did remove themselves from the market, were wise. Pressure from companies to reduce prices (without an outcome) was perhaps understandable, from the company’s point of view, but it was not reflecting the buyer voice. When a buyer says: “I don’t know…I”ll think about it”…they mean it!

Now, the buyer is back, for the first time in the past three year period. The secondary home marketplace is busying up. By late Fall, we may see action having occurred in upper tier priced residential, in undeveloped land opportunities, & in commercial/investment options. We may be approaching year 8 of a 7 to 10 year cycle, and so should see thinning inventory/price stability/some multiple offer situations for unique & irreplaceable property options. Those owners who waited it out were wise; not always possible to do that, though.

The real estate industry itself continues to shift dramatically, in our post-Internet world. Change is the wallpaper of our global village. Thales was right that we never step into the same river twice. Now, as we enter May & the beginning of our “real” (& very short!) season, the buyers are back in our kind of market-by-choice, & the uptick is here. More info? Call me!

Don’t be looking in the rear view mirror…time for that down the highway vista!

Sales volume + thinning inventory + stability of pricing = movement to a sellers market.

And your thoughts are? Always welcome!

How may I help you to buy your special Salt Spring Island or Gulf Islands or Vancouver Island property? Call me!

April 2012, Salt Spring Island Market Analysis

April, 2012

Change is erupting all around us.

The change of seasons is the easy one!

The continuing evolution of our post-Internet 21st Century world delivers shifts on an almost daily basis, and in all spheres.

The MLS system is undergoing substantial change. The consumer control over connection means agent marketing must change, and what about social media venues for linking a buyer with a realtor and thus with a seller? What about that role of the realtor as the connecting bridge between a seller & a buyer?

Locally on Salt Spring, in real estate, we have seen the closing of a long standing franchise based local office and seen its office space & remaining realtors being assumed by a non-franchise off-island company.

I think this kind of amalgamation/restructuring will continue. The impact of the internet on all business models continues. Nothing remains untouched. The car industry, the travel industry, the stock market & financial side of investment, even education…these business models have completely changed because of that consumer-oriented Internet impact. The Real Estate industry is no exception.

The franchise model of real estate is a 20th Century and pre-Internet concept. Any benefits to a franchise connection were erased after the internet’s impact. The Internet delivered control of the sales process to the consumer of the service.

As the technological and consumer oriented world continues to progress, some franchise options are disappearing or are trying to survive by amalgamating with others. The “big box” solution.

Some others are attempting to fit the very different evolutions in the business world into their systems…add ons with the appearance of the “new” (meaning the “current”). Since the ground level is where the change has occurred, this band-aid approach may not be sustainable.

Localized boutique style and “niche” business models may be an arrow towards a new/different sales model…if such boutique ventures are using the Internet the way the consumer is involved with it, that is. One has to be where the customer is…otherwise, in the all encompassing terrain of the Global Village, the information won’t get to the consumer.

The bottom line: what system displays the information directly to the consumer, and, at the same time, invites a proactive response from that consumer? Ah…that is the question and the oh so sought after answer! Isn’t that what SEO is all about?

Real Estate companies put together an array of marketing ideas for their salespeople. The company charges their salespeople to use them. Nothing is for free. These options appear as logos on generic company sponsored business cards, and are mentioned on company websites.

To benefit from these options, though, an individual realtor would have to pay for their use. Belonging to a franchise company is the generic logo part. To use what that company promises, the individual realtors pay to take part. Unless they do that, the company descriptions are just logos, with no particular focus on specific listings/areas.

Marketing is about perception, of course. Even if no substance behind it, the mere statement of something promised will often create an initial business relationship. This does not deliver a hoped for result, however.

Be sure to inquire. Yes, yes…your company says “x”, but do you do that for me, as my individual realtor in my specific area? Be a savvy consumer!

A branch office of a franchise (each office is locally owned and operated; the franchise name is like an overall umbrella name), or a boutique option (specific to an area), or a realtor acting unilaterally, as a Licenced individual…the 21st Century allows them all, and due to the impact of that direct consumer experience, the search engine power, all of them are now equal in marketing venues. Now that is something different!

A “big box” name is sitting on the same level playing field, now, as the area specific boutique office or even the individual realtor presence. That leveling influence is, of course, the result of the consumer driven Internet search…with its capability that puts the user of the search in control of both the discovery & the outcome. Different days, indeed!

And what about that office? Is it real? Virtual? Does it matter? Not.

In the Ethernet space of the virtual Internet world, it’s the information that is being provided, to the searching & consumer driven “engine”, that is the essential item.

I always feel that our time is like that classic schism between the long ages of the agrarian lifestyle & the sudden, unforeseen, explosive impact of the Industrial Revolution. Those on the side of the older world experienced the pain of change & some jobs disappeared. Those on the side of the new world of the machine age experienced the euphoria of change & new jobs came into being. Sound familiar?

Change means different…something new replacing something old. In a post-internet business environment, the key is to get the information to the attention of the person who needs that information. However, that “consumer in control of the action” aspect means that the end user is in charge of the “where & the when” of the action.

I think real estate as an industry is in the middle of the change delivered by the Internet.

As a realtor, one has to be in the flow of the shift, and be attentive to what delivers the bridge moment between a seller and a buyer.

That is where a realtor lives…at the point of expediting that connection. Important, then, that the realtor remain nimble & willing to change, & to experiment, in the effort to connect a listing with a buyer.

Ah…in change lies opportunity.

Markets are not static items, either. This Spring, the Gulf Islands are showing a definite uptick in sales volume in the entry level priced residential category. It is just beginning to be felt by the upper tier priced residential options. Good news, indeed! We may be in the slow climb out of a downmarket…perhaps we are in year 7 of a 7 to 10 year cycle?

Our season is traditionally March Break to Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend, in early October. For the first time in four years, there is market buoyancy when there should be.

As a buyer, it’s important to recognize that the benefits of a buyer’s market may be dissipating. Seller’s market in place by late Fall or by early Spring, next year? Hmmm…change, remember. Being nimble..being in the flow of what is.

March 2012, Salt Spring Island Market Analyses

It seems, in our secondary home/discretionary area, that January & February are often a continuation of the rhythm of November & December, of the previous year.

March, then, usually begins the pattern of the current year, and the number of March Break arrivals to view property, and possibly to make offers, forecasts the summer season…busy at March-Break-into-Easter usually means brisk sales time from mid-May to mid-September (our traditional “season”).

We may be in year seven of a seven to ten year cycle, which means a slow upticking in sales volume may already have begun. To date, there have been fourteen firm sales, since beginning of January. Ten have been under 620,000…most below 500,000.

This steady sales pattern mainly in the entry level residential category has been a feature of the Salt Spring sales picture for about two years…this busier first two months is perhaps a sign of consistency to the marketplace…a good feature, indeed.

Sales in undeveloped land options have not yet improved. In a downmarket, buyers are not seeking a holding property nor do they want a building project. The slow roll-back of the HST tax may help in the new home category
, particularly in city or large town environments, with developments & spec housing…in discretionary/secondary home areas, where building projects are custom & personal options, the HST repeal may or may not create activity.

The upper tier priced luxury residential segment also remains quiet. In some few cases on Salt Spring & the Gulf Islands, extraordinarily motivated sellers have accepted very low prices, well below intrinsic or replacement values & also below tax assessments. Personal need is not noted by appraisers; they look at the sale price, only. These lower prices will affect stats.

In many cases, in the luxury segment, local realtors have encouraged very broad price reductions, in an effort to jump start action from a buyer. These reductions do not appear to create buyer interest. In a secondary home marketplace, a purchase is about choice…and that choosing can be deferred until the buyer sees a definite sign of a hard asset recovery. Buying is an action propelled by confidence.

Price reductions do affect all sellers, however, as it is essential to be seen to be competitive in pricing, when a buyer might be looking at equivalent properties, also for sale.

Thinning inventories may lead to price stability and then to slowly increasing prices.

Nothing ever stays down (or up)…that equilibrium moment, when the teeter-totter of a market cycle appears to be evenly balanced, is of very short duration.

Low mortgage rates are not the motivator to action that one might think. It is buyer confidence that creates a market response. Sellers and realtors do not create a market…buyers do.

In a city market, there are usually more entry level options available, overall, and correspondingly fewer luxury choices. In a secondary home/discretionary and resort-based area, the opposite is true. Such areas attract buyers lucky enough to own more than one property, or purchasers who, because of the Internet, can choose to live anywhere in the world and thus could work from a Gulf Island, or perhaps the buyer is someone who has done well elsewhere & can now choose a Gulf Island to retreat/”retire” to…it’s a specialized buyer profile who is in a position to create their personal dream.

A purchase in an area like Salt Spring Island and the Gulf Islands is about choice…and choice in timing is also a part of this. The buyer sets the pace in a discretionary marketplace.

The Gulf Islands are not municipalities…they are governed by the government body known as the Islands Trust. The Trust has been in place since 1974, & development on all the Islands is firmly controlled by strict zoning/density bylaws.

Bowen Island voted to become a Gulf Islands Municipality some years ago…the Trust & its bylaws remain in place, however. Salt Spring might consider this outcome, too.

There is an impression that the international market is moving out of cash right now and back into hard assets/commodities, including real estate. The continuing unraveling of the global economic picture has an impact on every region. We are in the post-Internet world, vitally interconnected, and the Global Village is with us. In difficult times, hard asset investment is understood as a way to protect capital.

An interesting sidebar to the post-Internet world is that it has not only erased time & geography, but has also made “someplace” in competition with “everyplace”. It’s a big world, after all! Choice, again….

Salt Spring Island and the Gulf Islands enjoy scenic beauty and environmental protection. They enjoy all of the amenities necessary to partake of life in the “real” 21st Century, and yet experience the allure of “yesteryear”. They have easy access to major centres, yet offer a village lifestyle. A temperate climate creates opportunity to be self-sustaining…the 10K diet is alive & well, here. A strong arts community, a dynamic cultural life, an oceanfront pleasure…these islands are in the heart of the best protected boating waters in the world. One is gifted to be able to live in this still very undiscovered area.