Patricia Houlihan | Personal Real Estate Corporation

Re: Real Estate in the time of Covid: Unusually great July... could we see a busy August? We have seen the market rebounding strongly the last few months and July continued that trend. The supply/demand equation continues to favour sellers with buyers still wanting to buy, but the supply being much lower than buyers would like to see. We have continued to receive multiple offers on many properties-although in a lot of cases (unexpectedly) the offers still came in under asking...Continue reading

One of our recent sales featured in the Vancouver Sun!! Sold over asking with multiple offers in 5 days!!! https://vancouversun.com//sold-bought-deep-cove-home-boast

RE in the Time of Covid: May Flowers After the worst April we have seen in the past 38 years, May was a lot better for sellers and buyers. While we are still at very low sales levels, there were a huge number of buyers looking for homes-there just wasn't enough available for them to buy. I think if more people had put their homes on the market, we would have had a much higher sales levels for May. In May 2020 we had 37% less homes listed for sale than last year-making it 37% ...less likely a buyer will find the right home for them! Buyers seem optimistic; many want to take advantage of the still very low interest rates; and some have said they just don't want to spend any potential future lockdowns in a condo! Buyers are looking at everything that might work for them and many are asking about possible options that are not even for sale yet! Multiple offers on well priced homes are again becoming common. The May numbers don't look as good as the market "feels" because they do not show how many buyers are out there trying to buy houses that are not available for sale. The sales stats for May show: -a 43.9% decrease in sales when compared to May 2019 (remember there were 37% fewer homes for sale this May, so less for buyers to buy=fewer sales) -a 54.4% decrease in sales when compared to the 10 year average BUT the numbers also show: -a 33.9% increase in sales when compared to last month-April 2020 -prices up 2.9% compared to May 2019 (based on benchmark price-prices levels vary significantly depending on type of home and location so this number is not that helpful) We are only 10 weeks into the worst of the Covid market but there are already some very positive signs. Hopefully some sellers will decide to list their homes so that buyers looking to move can do so. Most of us selling homes now have very strict protocols in place to protect our sellers by ensuring only serious, well qualified buyers can view homes. When a buyer has been qualified, the viewings also require a high level of protective measures in place. It takes a lot of time, but these measures offer a high level of protection for our sellers. If you have been thinking of selling or buying and would like more information on this market and your options, or even if you are not thinking of making a move but have questions on this odd market, please contact me. Stay Healthy!

Re: To Video or Not to Video, that is the question... Over the past 2 weeks I have had 2 people ask me whether we should be posting videos for our properties now that Covid-19 is restricting showings to a certain extent. This is a great question and I assume if 2 people are asking it, 200 are likely wondering! So here is the answer. I used to do videos for all of my listings...for years.....That was until I attended a course at the annual USA National Association of Realtors...Continue reading

Re: Covid-19 and Real Estate I thought I would provide some information about how Covid-19 is being addressed in our real estate business. I have just returned from repatriating my children from Nicaragua to Canada and am now in self isolation for 2 weeks. Obviously, concern over the spread of the Covid-19 AND it's impact on absolutely everything is very real and cannot be ignored. While we hope the world continues on as usual to the maximum extent possible, with many of us...Continue reading