What we have seen so far this year

The real estate market in Vulcan and area has seen weak market so far this year. The number of sales has decrease, along with the number of properties on the market. The story is similar in much of southern Alberta. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, the Vulcan region has seen a decrease of 53% in the number of sales, as well as in the number of listings so far in 2016. The average days on market for a property is 147. Currently, we have three houses for sale under the $100,000 mark. In the earlier part of the year, there were a few new build house sales, which we have not seen for quite a while. Lately, though, there has not been anything happening with that part of the market either. Buyers are being selective, because they can in this market, and they most are willing to wait until the right property comes along, or at least they find the right price. Several sellers have had to reduce their list price in order to get some action on their properties.

Year to date statistics

We are just over the halfway point of 2016, so it's time to look at the statistics from the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) and compare this year to last year. According to CREB, in 2016 we have had 28 sales in the Vulcan region so far this year. At this time last year, we had 35. Last year at this time, there were 101 new listings, compared to this year when there have only been 70. For all of last year, the average days on market for a property was 125, while in 2016 the average days on market is 144 so far. Note that this is information from the CREB and does not include private sales, or sales registered through other real estate boards. I agree with these statistics. 2015 was a slower year for the local real estate market, and 2016 has been even slower so far. Our inventory of listings is down, but so are the amount of people looking to buy. It will be interesting to see how the last half of the year goes. I still think that we have not seen the bottom of the drop in the market, as there are still layoffs in the energy sector.

An Increase in Residential Sales for April

According to the stats from the Alberta Land Titles Registry, the Town of Vulcan has seen an increase in single family residential sales in the month of April. The first 1/4 of the year had seen very low numbers for sales. The numbers for April are a bit better, even though activity is still slower. The Town of Vulcan is up to 16 residential listings, as of today, which is up by 3 or 4 compared to last month. Perhaps we are just having a slower start to our spring sales, but at least we are getting a bit more inventory for buyers to choose from. It will be interesting to see how the summer market goes. We have several events taking place in the County this year, including Spock Days, Tinman Triathlon, Lomond's 100th Anniversary, Champion's 105th Anniversary, Vul-Con Convention, Show-n-Shines, and more. We even have CBC in town this week, filming for their Still Standing show. Let's see what happens!

Pricing your property to sell

When looking to sell your property, make sure to align it with the current local market conditions. Right now, the market is soft and it is the bargains that are being looked at. Pricing your property too high to "see how it goes", may end up with you missing potential buyers who were ready to buy, but your property was not priced to today's actual market. Those buyers will move on, while you still pay property taxes, utilities and upkeep. Make sure that you take those into account, along with your time, before you decide to "see how it goes".

Preparing your property to sell

When you are considering selling your property there are a few things to consider. The link to the video is part of this blog. This time of year though, in the winter, I have a couple more things to add: first of all make sure that your sidewalks are clear of snow, as it can be frustrating for potential buyers to have to trench through snow to get to the property. This is not the way to make a good first impression. Even if you property is vacant, make sure that you have made arrangements to get the snow cleared before any and all showings. Secondly, put a piece of tape over the switch for the furnace, and mark DO NOT TOUCH on it. I have had it happen on my own property where potential buyers were looking at the property, switching light switches off and on, when they accidentally switched the furnace switch off. As a result, days later, my pipes froze up because there was no heat. My property was vacant, so no one noticed that the house was cooling off. It was a costly lesson, but after dealing with burst pipes, this is one thing that I will always remember to do. Good luck!

The Vulcan Real Estate Market 2015 - my point of view

2015 was another interesting year in the local real estate market. The first almost half of the year was slow for the residential market sales. July and August, as well as part of September, is when the market was busy. October started to see a slow down, and November and December, while seeing a few sales, still was traditionally pretty quiet. Residential lot sales did not see much action. There are still several lots by the golf course for sale, most of which were for sale at the beginning of the year. We did see, however, a few residential lots in the older part of town get houses moved on to them, and one other with a house in the process of being built. There are a couple of residential family lots for sale within the older part of town, but not as many as years before. Moving in previously lived in homes seems to be a trend over the last couple of years (since the bylaw was changed in 2013). There are two new houses being constructed in a new part of the subdivision by the back nine of the golf course. One of the houses has already been spoken for. The interesting part about this part of the subdivision, is that it is not part of the homeowners association, nor part of a condo association. It is for single family homes. Places where people can have fenced yards, and a little more freedom, unlike the other areas of the Whispering Creek area.

Houses are still selling

Traditionally, this is the time of the year when the residential market slows down. It has a bit, but over the past week or two, we have seen a few offers on properties. Perhaps, this is because I was away for a week, and I should leave more often??? There are currently 14 houses for sale on the MLS system within the Town of Vulcan. Surprisingly, only three of them are listed below the $200,000 mark. One of them I have a pending offer on. This is a bit of a shock in that our average house price this year so far has been under the $170,000 mark. It is not like we are seeing house prices go up. The fact is that we are seeing the affordable properties sell, leaving the higher priced inventory to sit. It should be interesting to see what happens for the remainder of 2015, and the start of 2016 in the residential marketplace.