Video Transcript

- Hi, it's Elaine Andrews with Andrews Group with our Business Un-Usual series, and today's question is... Are we in a "Buyer's Market?" One would think that would be a very simple question, but it's complicated. In today's current COVID pandemic world crisis environment, one would think it would be a strong buyer's market, but that's not what we're seeing.

A buyer's market is marked with declining home prices. So far we haven't seen that. In a buyer's market, generally interest rates are trending up. And they are right now. So we have seen interest rates going up, but high inventory is also part of a buyer's market. And the inventory remains very level, on the low side. Sellers are not putting their homes on the market right now, so the inventory is still on the low side. And right now it's very difficult to say. What we are seeing is a stratified market, and a stratified market means that the market's divided, so we have two ends of the market.

We have the 1.5 and under market, which is, if you've got a house for 1.5, you're getting multiple offers still today. Dana is in a multiple offer in a house in North Vancouver right now. Anything above that, or not anything above that, but let's say two million, three million, four million, that market has really slowed down. We had a stratified market in 2016 when we had a lot of foreign investors buying at the high end of the market, and the high end of the market was the place to be. So as of today, right now, it's not really a buyer's market. We have a stratified market. I hope that kind of answers your question.

And this could all change. It's April 6th today. Tomorrow could be a different day, as we know, or a week from now, a month from now, for sure. So, I'm Elaine from Andrews Group. I hope that you're all safe and staying in, and that everyone is well in your home, and I look forward to seeing you again.

Thanks for listening.