REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
HOMES
L ADNER / TSAW WASSEN
LISTINGS • NEW HOMES • HOME SERVICES
Debbie Twitchell
AMP
Mortgage Planner
604-644-0511 www.dtwitchell.com Your Best Mortgage Choice
THU FEBRUARY 7, 2019
‘Perfect time’ for move-up buyers T
he silver lining to a softening detached-home market is that opportunities for upsizers abound, especially in Ladner and Tsawwassen, according to local realtors. With entry-level condos largely retaining their value, but detached houses seeing a distinct price correction in South Delta, the price gap has narrowed considerably over the past two years. Local condo or townhome owners, or those from Vancouver and other municipalities, who are looking for a bit more space now have a rare opportunity to get into single-family homeownership, says Todd Jackson of RE/MAX ProGroup Realty. “This is an ideal market environment for a young family to make a move from an apartment or townhome to a detached house,” said Jackson.
“We’re in a decelerating market, but the real compression has been in the detached category, and because of that and other factors, this is the perfect time for a family to make that step. Supporting that, we still have low interest rates, low unemployment, low inflation and a very desirable community to live in.” MLS data shows that there were 118 detached sales in the Ladner and Tsawwassen areas under $1 million in 2018 compared with just one detached sale under a million in 2017. Jackson said the ideal move-up conditions have been in place for at least the past six to eight months and buyers are actively taking advantage of this. “We have people under contract right now in this situation, within this community, young families moving to larger homes for lifestyle reasons and
because of expanding families. We’re also seeing people from outside the region making these lifestyle choices, often because they no longer want to live in a strata complex.”
Window of opportunity Jackson said that move-up buyers should take the opportunity while conditions are right. “There is no crystal ball. But at any given time, a government intervention, rising interest rates, all these things could impact the decision-making process. And right now the market is in buyers’ favour to make the move up into the detached category.” He added that another current market factor is helping buyers make this move. “We’re seeing home purchases that are subject to sale, which we haven’t seen in the recent past. So these buyers can put
‘subject to sale’ on their purchase, they don’t have to sell their home first and they have time to do their due diligence.” Local realtor Doug Lucier, who works out of Sutton Group Seafair Realty, is seeing the same market conditions in the South Delta area. “It is a great time to move up. A lot of the entry-level homes have really held their value, while the high-priced homes have seen a reduction,” said Lucier. “This is largely because the overseas buyers virtually stopped overnight.” He pointed to current listings of detached houses around the $900K mark. “I thought, wow, we haven’t seen that in years. So now, people are coming out of the woodwork – local buyers, but also those from Vancouver and other area, mostly buying to live in the home, owner-occupiers.”
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