This caught many buyers in the marketplace off guard. Many times dealing with clients and speaking with people at my open houses, they were commenting on how they would see a new listing pop up on the internet, and by the time they got around to arranging to see it, or waiting to see if there was an open house at the property to attend it was Sold. Just this past weekend I hosted an open at a property on Dilworth Mountain that had been on the market for 12 days, and by the time people were arriving at the open house there was already an accepted offer in place. Not only did the open house end up being the busiest I've hosted in some time, 3 couples were actually interested in bringing an offer and were very disappointed to learn it would be a backup offer. All 3 couples had seen the house on the internet a week prior, and had waited to see it, literally missing out on the home by hours.
Unfortunately, I heard that same story many times this month. People that have been searching for a while, or that are not updated on the current Kelowna market conditions, are used to or expecting a slower moving marketplace. And if you have been looking at listings online, it's easy to get caught in that perception, as the same listings have been on the MLS for months and months, and sometimes years. This is old STALE inventory. Doing a search of last months sales this morning, the DOM (Days on Market) which tells us how long a property took to sell looked like this:
1 at 3 days
1 at 4 days
1 at 10 days
6 at 11 days
6 at 12 days
2 at 13 days
10 at 14 days
And the list continued upward in one day increments from there. The best listings are not only selling fast, the are often attracting multiple offers. This is why it is so important to be working with a Realtor on your behalf as a Buyers Agent, to keep you ahead of the rest of the competition looking for the next great listings in the same neighborhoods that you are. When I work with clients as their Buyers agent, I send them new listings multiple times DAILY with my concierge service. I check for new listings that came on overnight at 5:30 am before I hit the gym, and email them to you. I check for new listings after my morning meetings again between 9 and 9:30 and email them to you. And often, agents within our office announce their upcoming new listings at our office meetings, and I am able to get my clients in to see those properties before anyone else has had a chance to see them on the MLS. At RE/MAX Kelowna, we sell more homes than any other brokerage in Kelowna, doing 30.9% of the transactions in February, which allows me to get the best insight into the new inventory possible for my clients. As the numbers show, when the market is on the move, it is important to take great effort to stay in front of it.
What does this mean for the rest of the year? Well forecasts for Kelowna were optimistic from a variety of experts including CMHC, and all signs are still pointing that way. Of course we will see how things in the oil industry play out, however optimism for the BC economy is still positive.
If you are thinking of making a purchase or know someone who is, please email, call or text me to get information on how I can get you set up in my free concierge service, and make sure you end up on the "we got the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood" list, instead of the "we keep just missing the perfect homes" list!
Likewise, I am currently accepting appointments for people interested in listing their homes during March. It would be my pleasure to show you what I can do to get your home on the 3 days to sell list, as opposed to the 8 months on the market, helping all the other homes in the neighborhood to sell list.
Thanks for reading,
Kent
Who you work with Matters
www.kentarmstrong.ca
