Thursday Numbers

There were 302 new listings yesterday, and 116 sales, for a sell/list of 38.41%.  Inventory reached 9,789, and of those, 2,319, or 22.37%, had been on the market over 90 days.

Tuesday and Wednesday Numbers

There were 323 new listings today and 150 sales, for a sell/list of 46.44%.  Inventory reached 9,533, of which 2,370, or 24.86% were over 90s.

 Yesterday there were 286 new listings and 148 sales for a sell/list of 51.75%.

Monday’s Numbers

There were 229 new listings yesterday, and 98 sales, for a sell/list of 42.79%.  Inventory hit 9,364, of which 2,324,  or 24.81%, were over 90s.

I also received an email today promoting brand new Orlando 1 bedroom condos for between $195,000 and $205,000.  Who’s ready? 🙂

wenesday #s

Rob is now out of time so Chan is BACK!!!

there were 319 new listings yesterday and 116 sales. A Sell/List of 36.36%. Inventory reached 9393 (of which 2498 or 26.59% were over 90s)

Tuesday Numbers

There were 238 new listings today and 91 sales, for a sell/list of 38.24%.  Inventory reached 9,235, of which 2,606, or 28.22% were over 90s.

Monday Numbers

There were 254 new listings today, and only 80 sales, for a sell/list of 31.50%.  Inventory reached 9,133, of which 2,588, or 28.33%, were over 90s. 

Reading the comments on the last thread I noticed a few people pointing out a few month’s worth of declines in the UK.  I thing the underlying theme is the idea that we’re at the top of the market here.  We may be.  We’ve had a good run, after all.  But, the real estate market moves slowly.  One year ago we had witnessed detached benchmark prices decline from $659,269 in September until they reached $641,596 in January.  That decline had been preceded by a drop in July. 

That doesn’t mean that market hasn’t changed, or isn’t about to.  But it does seem to indicate that 4 months may not be a trend.  After last winter’s 4 month slide we arrived at a December ’07 detached benchmak price of $730,399 (+13.8%).

Friday Numbers/ Giants Game

There were 229 new listings today and 106 sales for a sell/list of 46.29% Inventory reached 9,021, with over 90s at 2,421, or 26.83% (dropping).

 I’m going to have some Vancouver Giants tickets available next week.  If you’d like to go keep your eyes open for details. 

Thursday Numbers and US Real Estate

There were 244 new listings yesterday and 121 sales, for a sell/list of 49.59%. When did breaking a 50% sell/list become a goal? It probably pays to keep in mind that in  many, if not most markets, 50% sell/list is outstanding. 

Inventory hit 8,964, of which 2,450, or 27.36% were over 90s.

I received two interesting contacts this week from California Realtors.  Both of them found me on the blog.  Both of them are looking for buyers. 

One,  Todd Bernstein of Coldwell Banker in Encino telephoned me to chat about Vancouver, and to survey my opinion of Canadians buying in LA, given the strong dollar and the attractive pricing. Linking those two things together may not be rocket science, but picking up the telephone and pursuing the idea is nuts and bolts business savvy. If you don’t even ask for the order you’ll never get it. I shared with Todd that his idea did have traction here, and was appearing in print (Diane Francis/National Post) and on talk radio (Bill Good/CKNW), but that the prevailing attitude seems to be that Canadians should wait a little longer for US bargains. Be that as it may, the idea of LA / California / US property purchase is one to keep in mind. If, as some argue, prices here don’t ever drop enough to offer a good chance of subsequent growth, we’ll need to consider purchases elsewhere.

A second Realtor, Melanie Narducci, of Keller Williams San Francisco Properties, contacted me through email on a similar, but slightly different mission. Melanie wants to sell property in several areas, from Ireland to Italy, but thought that San Francisco might be a natural match for Vancouverites. If you’ve been to San Francisco you might agree.

I initially hesitated putting either of these guys on the blog, because I’m sure they’ll attract a lot of undeserved fire, but after 15 seconds decided that they were both grown ups and could take it 🙂 The coincidental nature of their contct with me, the US opportunity angle, the idea of buying outside Vancouver to find growth, and the simple fact that they can offer insights into markets that we often comment on makes their presence very valuable.

Wednesday Numbers and Outsourcing

There were 327 new listings yesterday and 144 sales, for a sell/list of 44.04%. Inventory reached 8,919, while over 90s fell to 2,481 (27.81%).

Last year I read an article about outsourcing to India.  The idea rattled around for quite a while, but I eventually found myself persuing Craiglist ads in Mumbai  and Bangalore.  It was an enlightening expereince.  I made contact with three providers, one of which was a woman in South Carolina – she discovered that advertising on the Mumbai Craigslist paid off more than the SC C/L. 

 In any event, we’ve succesfully outsourced one of our minor, repetitive office tasks to an Indian firm. Everything was done over the internet.  The contact person, the quality of work and communication was outstanding.  The job cost $20.00. 

What I like is that my team can do more for less.  We never run out of work around here, and the paperwork load simply increases year after year.  If we can outsource to competent people my office staff can concentrate on jobs that exploit their talents and increase our production.  That means we can provide better service to our clients. 

I also like that reducing costs means I relieve pressure on my payroll.  When a business isn’t profitable every line item is a target, and that includes employees.  If I can do with an email and a spreadsheet what used to require a few of hours a month for my administrator, she can use the saved time to generate more business.  Her job becomes more secure, not less, because of outsourcing. 

I’m not exactly an early adaptor, however.  Outrsourcing to India has been happening for a while, and I’ve read that Indian business is already outsourcing. That concerns me.  How long will I be able to depend on my new business alliance?  I’ve used the same appliance repair people for 20 years. As the world becomes smaller, flatter and more wired, will I be able to say the same thing about my Indian business associates in 2027?  

Tuesday Numbers/CKNW

There were 234 new listings today and 109 sales, for a sell/list of 49.68%.  Inventory reached 8,790, with over 90s at 2,524, or 28.71%.

 Some of you probably heard Bob Rennie, Helmut Pastrick, Michael Campbell and Michael Levy this morning on Bill Good’s show. It was a very interesting show.  If you missed it just go to CKNW, sign up for their club and go to the audio vault and start listening around 9:10. 

My favourite take away?   Mr. Rennie mentioned passive investors with 25%-40% down collecting rent downtown.  To be fair, he may have been talking about past sales, but if not, I’d sure like to see those units!  He also mentioned that we won’t have over-supply downtown because the buildings under construction are all 80% to 100% sold.  That strikes me as a convenient measure of supply.  I’ve argued before that ownership (and the price of it) isn’t the key; housing demand  (whether satisfied by owning or renting) is the key.  It will be interesting to see if we continue to absorb the supply that’s being built now.