Coronavirus outbreak means fewer Vancouver new condo sales this Winter



The coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan has already had a significant effect on life beyond China’s borders, with cases springing up around the globe and an increasing number of travel advisories being issued.

As the death toll continues to rise, people are starting to be filled with anxiety over whether or not the virus will continue to spread this quickly across China and the world. And even reach public health emergency status in other countries. These worries will definitely be affecting economic impacts at the local level for 2020, and this includes Vancouver's housing market performance.

As large amount of Vancouver's real estate buyers are Chinese nationals, and there is very little doubt that the Coronavirus will actually impact market activity in the first couple of months of 2020 and potentially beyond.

It would make sense for Vancouver's new condo and luxury segments of the market will get hit the hardest by a drop in the sales.

Chinese tourists are the biggest source of outbound travellers worldwide, having spent $130 billion overseas in 2018. Not only this, but they are also the biggest spenders on luxury goods in the world.

Beata Caranci, chief economist at TD Economics, wrote that, at the global level, there will be heightened market uncertainty and an increase in volatility as the virus spreads. While it will eventually level off, this sense of uncertainty will filter down into local markets in a variety of ways, including the hit Vancouver’s new condo and luxury markets will likely take in the first few months of the year.

“All told, we maintain confidence that the swift response of authorities globally will arrest the evolution of the outbreak with time,” she wrote in a note earlier in the week.

Using the impact of the 2003 SARS epidemic as her framework, Caranci claims that the coronavirus would cause a small disruption to Canada’s economic growth for the year, with most of the impact being felt in the first quarter.

“There’s little doubt that confirmed cases will continue to rise globally in the near-term, but Chinese authorities have demonstrated a swifter and more transparent response than the SARS episode, both domestically and in alerting the World Health Organization,” she wrote.

If you would like to learn more about Coronavirus and its effects on Vancouver's market, or if you are thinking about buying or selling your properties, please contact Matt Gul, who is a top luxury real estate agent situated in West Vancouver, who can help you with all of your needs. To contact Matt Gul please call him at 778.888.8888 or email him at matt@mattgul.com


Summarized by: Onur Gul on instagram at @onurgulfilm

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