'Remarkable' home prices haven't taken a hit yet, economist says, as big declines projected



Home prices are expected to drop around Metro Vancouver, but questions remain about just how bad the decline will be, and when we’ll see it happen.

UBC housing economist Tom Davidoff has a few predictions, and we can even see price declines such as an estimated 18 per cent in all of Canada, over the next year, in the assessments of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. 

Davidoff says that even though we have had massive economic problems with COVID-19, making it nearly impossible for small businesses to thrive, the economy has been at a very low point. However it is very surprising to see how the housing markets have still not come to dropping, yet they are very likely to soon follow the path of basically everything and drop.

“It’s hard to believe that if while employment rates and closed or barely functioning businesses persist for another year, that you wouldn’t see damage to the housing market and further damage to other asset markets,” 

In this quote, Davidoff is talking about the fact that basically every single economy function of our country is going downhill, where employments rates are very down, and many businesses are on the verge of either closing, barely remaining open, or are already closed, yet somehow our country's real estate market is somehow quite untouched.

Davidoff notes that while there are fewer buyers, there are also fewer sellers, meaning price reductions have been limited so far.

“As time goes on, you expect that there’ll be more forced sales or people just deciding it’s time to sell,” he adds.

In this quote he is explaining that soon people will begin to start selling, and the number of sales will override the number of people buying.

The credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar has recently projected a decline of 10-15 per cent in home prices in our local Vancouver area, this is a very steep drop, and could impact our market substantially, making it a much better time to sell now.

A huge question that everyone has to think about, is how long is it going to take for our country's economy to bounce back from COVID-19? If it will only take a few weeks, sure wait for selling, however it will definitely take longer, and the market will not be the same for a while, therefore selling right now will become a much more viable option for most people who are selling their homes.

If you would like to learn more about how the real estate market has yet to take a large dip in home prices, and the future in the real estate market once it does, 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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