Some homeowners afraid of selling in red-hot market: Report
Posted April 21, 2016 7:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It might be the only thing scarier than trying to get into our red-hot housing market right now and that is missing a chance to cash out by selling your place for a huge profit.
A new report reveals that fear is becoming a factor for many homeowners across Metro Vancouver and it shows some people are reluctant to be thrown into the competition.
They know their homes would be snapped up in an instant and they know they would get a good chunk of change for it. But, the report from RE/MAX finds many don’t want to get caught up in the market.
A lot of people whose children are grown and have moved out, who in the past, may have chosen to downsize to a smaller house are deciding to stay put, unless they’re going to a condo or another city.
Of course, others are choosing to hang on to their properties because they know there’s a good chance the value will continue to climb, though some simply can’t afford to wait, needing the equity for retirement.
Re/Max says the average sale price went up nearly 25 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.
Afraid of change
How do we make homes in Metro Vancouver more affordable? Or is it even possible? One industry watcher believes there’s no real will to see the price of housing here drop.
Former Vancouver City Councillor and Business in Vancouver columnist Peter Ladner asserts that, overall, there are more people benefiting from rising home prices than being hurt by them. And although there’s a lot of talk about affordability, we may never achieve it if it comes at the expense of increasing values.
“There is a great fear, a fear that is sometimes exaggerated, that any drop in prices will be a horrible thing but I don’t understand how we can make housing more affordable if prices don’t come down.”
Ladner says there’s no real road map to making housing more affordable in Metro Vancouver and there’s been no honest discussion of that.
Meantime, there could soon be some relief for some first-time homeowners in Vancouver proper. Politicians are pushing ahead with a pilot project that would see the city take an ownership stake in hundreds of condos and then sell them at a discount. But there are a few conditions. Prospective buyers must make less than $96,000 a year and they must have lived in Vancouver for at least five years.
The provincial government still has to approve the plan.
