Our Local Real Estate Market and COVID-19

The world will never get back to normal.  The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on everyone worldwide.  The Town of Vulcan and County of Vulcan are no different.  I receive plenty of questions about how our real estate market is doing through all of this.  Well, as real estate associates, we have made a few changes.  Not all selling clients want people going through their homes these days.  That is understandable.  Sellers do not have to let people in.  It is as simple as that.  Some people are taking their properties off of the market because of this, and will try again once this has passed.  Not all buyers want to go through someone else's house either.  We just do not know where people have been.  There are documents for people to sign to state that they are healthy and have not travelled anywhere lately, but that is not always enough to make people feel safe.  I have found that the vacant properties are getting more attention than occupied ones.  My office has about three or four deals on the go as of the time of this writing.  This is nice to see as this is usually the time of year when the market gains strength.  At Magnuson Realty Ltd., I am using FaceBook Live for virtual open houses, plus I record videos of properties to post on the MLS system.  These are things that I have been meaning to do for years, but just never did.  Now, I feel that it is a must.  People can view the properties from the safety of their own homes and decide from there if they want to see them in person.  We also have electronic signatures.  We do not have to meet face-to-face with our clients to sign contracts and make changes.  I have had this for several years now, and it saves time, fuel, makes the contracts much cleaner than faxes, and now apparently it is safe for us, as there is less physical interaction.  We have to adapt in order to keep relevant in this new world.  And there is more time for webinars to learn how to be better at what we do.  The goal here is to come out of this stronger than when it started.

Our Local Real Estate Market in a Nutshell

At least a couple times a day, I am asked how the market is going.  "Things are still pretty weak?"  "Lots on the market, eh?"  "Not much selling, I hear."  Well, this is what I have to say...  The first 11 months of 2019 were not great, much like most of the province of Alberta.  However, in December, the market was busy around here, at least at our office.  There was interest in farm land, residential properties, and even some commercial.  We actually had a accepted offers during the month.  January came along with its cold, and snow, and that slowed things down quite a big.  Then came February.  Buyers are wanting land.  We have found them land.  People are looking for houses.  We found them houses.  Even at Lake McGregor Country Estates, I had a listing for a cottage lot out there, and we sold it.  I believe there were even a couple more cottage lot sales out there this month.  Now, I am not saying that the market is turning around and we are heading into  a big upswing, but what I am saying is that the market is improving.  I am optimistic about 2020, as my office is averaging at least one transaction per week, so far this year.  With us nicely into the 2020 year, our local  market is seeing the expansion of the hospital moving forward.  Estimated to be open for patients later on this summer.  The demo of the old swimming pool is to begin here within a week or two, as work has already begun preparing the interior for being disassembled.  The pool is expected to be done in October, with the opening ready for the summer of 2021.    www.magnusonrealty.com

The FALL Market

The local real estate market has seen another soft year.  Up to today, the Calgary Real Estate Board has reported 20 residential property sales within the Town of Vulcan, plus one residential lot sale.  According to the Alberta Land Titles Registry, there have been a total of 25 residential sales in town, with an average price of just over $199,000.  To note, once properties are over the $250,000 mark, the number of sales tends to decrease quite a bit.  This shows that it is still a buyer's market.  As I have stated before, it is the bargains that are moving.  Higher end properties tend to sit on the market for an extended period of time.  However, there are positive changes happening in the Town of Vulcan and throughout the County of Vulcan.  This is why I am feeling optimistic for the upcoming year.  First of all, the hospital in Vulcan is seeing the addition being closed in.  It is going to be exciting to see the finished product there.  Secondly, the plan is for construction of the new outdoor swimming pool to start in the spring.  As for the County, the bins are up and they are preparing the ground for railway lines by Carmangay for the new grain terminal - G3.  The largest solar project in Western Canada is planned for the Travers area.  I do not know all of the details of that, but it sounds quite interesting to me.  As my instructor told me in my university economics class, everything goes in cycles, and I am betting that we have seen the down side, and are getting ready to start climbing up again.

First Day of Summer - What have we learned so far this year

Today is the longest day of the year, as far as daylight hours go.  So how has the market been so far in 2019?  We are in a buyer's market.  There is plenty of inventory in the residential marketplace.  Many sellers are concerned that they are not getting any showings.  The concern is real.  There are good properties listed for sale, but not many people looking to buy at this time.  This is not a problem that is strictly a Vulcan problem.  It is the same throughout much of the province of Alberta.  However, I do feel that there are reasons to be optimistic.  First of all, we have a new provincial government.  This is the change that people have been looking for for some time now.  Let's see if it will be a change for the positive.  Next positive thing to note is the rain.  We have been getting rain over the past couple of days and there is more in the forecast for the next few days.  This is great news for our agricultural community!  Two years of drought has taken its toll on our economy.  With this moisture, it is a God send for crops and for the pastures for livestock.  The grass was starting to turn brown due to lack of moisture, but that is changing.  Plus, with the fires that are in northern Alberta, this rain will help those area and many of the residents who have been evacuated due to the fires are being allowed to go back home.  This is certainly a step in the right direction.

Demographic information for Town of Vulcan

There is a link to the Town of Vulcan website which shows the demographic information for our town. You can either just click on the title of this post, or check out www.townofvulcan.ca, go to the heading Your Town, and to the right, you will see Community Services. Under that, you will see Community Demographic Profile. That is where you see all the information. It shows median age, median household income, marital status, population and more!

Supply vs Demand

We have been hearing more and more of this over the past several months - supply versus demand. There is a larger supply of inventory on the real estate market than there is demand. The result is that buyers can be more picky when they are shopping around and they can take their time to shop. There is not a lot of competition amongst the buyers. There is more amongst the sellers. DOM - Days on Market - is the time it takes for a property to sell. Even in larger centres such as Calgary and Airdrie, there average days on the market is larger than it used to be. In Vulcan, we are looking at an average of 134 days for a residential property to sell. Does it necessarily mean that these properties are no good, that they have "issues"? No. It may mean that there is just not much of a market for those properties right now (not many buyers). Of course there could be some properties that are just priced too high, or some that do have "issues", so that's where buyers and their agents need to do their homework in order to make an informed decision.

Summary of 2018 Residential Real Estate Market for Vulcan and County

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board statistics, the Vulcan Region (Town of Vulcan and County) had 56 sales in 2018 and 161 listings. This is an average of 22.18 months of inventory. The average property that sold spent 118 days on the market, with an average sale price of $222,181. Now that includes sales in the Town of Vulcan, the surrounding villages, acreages, and land. From the information that I have compiled through the SPIN 2 government website, I have compiled the sales, both on MLS and private sales, and have ended up with the following regarding the Town of Vulcan. There were 42 residential sales within the Town of Vulcan. That added up to just over $8 million dollars in sales. The average sale price was $191,795. The majority of the houses sold in the $200,000 to $249,999 price range. In the previous year, 2017, there were 52 house sales in Vulcan, for a total of $11,227,047 in sales. The average sale price for a house in Vulcan in 2017 was $215,904. The majority of the houses sold in the $150,000 to $199,999 range and $200,000 to $249,999 range. As stated, this information was gathered by me, for my information. I do not warrant any of this information for anyone else, but for my records.