CREA Admits Down Market: Worse In Okanagan?

[sportster72]

Looks like CREA finally woke up and smelled the coffee to admit that prices ARE dropping nationwide. The stats I'm seeing from OMREB seem to be from a different Central Okanagan than the one I live in. OMREB is seeing slight upticks when every property I'm looking at is in price freefall with no end in sight. I'd love to hear the perspective of local real estate prices from other real people (since CREA and OMREB are made up of real estate agents who may or may not be human).

[cv23]

Apparently Vancouver and TO have finally succumbed to the market corrections the Okanagan Valley, and most of the rest of Canada, have already experienced.

[rekabis]

I’ve been looking at the actual monthly reports as released by OMREB. The numbers are getting progressively weirder and weirder, especially from a statistical perspective. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s going on, but my gut reaction is that either something is going seriously sideways with our housing market or the numbers are being cooked to look better than they actually are.

But that’s just my gut reaction. I just don’t have the time right now to to a full statistical breakdown of the numbers. Maybe in October or November, but not now.

[grammafreddy]

I’ve been looking at the actual monthly reports as released by OMREB. The numbers are getting progressively weirder and weirder, especially from a statistical perspective. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s going on, but my gut reaction is that either something is going seriously sideways with our housing market or the numbers are being cooked to look better than they actually are.

But that’s just my gut reaction. I just don’t have the time right now to to a full statistical breakdown of the numbers. Maybe in October or November, but not now.

I have always felt their numbers were being cooked. They seem to take apples and oranges and try to sell you bananas. Or lemons.

[sportster72]

+1 on the cooking. The local statistics seem to have absolutely no relation to reality.

[cooldude]

I think it's beacuse we have moved from a "we are selling because we can" to "were selling because we have to" market. Therefore more home owners are staying put. But sometimes, forecasting the market is kind of like a crystal ball, anyone can do it I think.

[36Drew]

+2 on the cooking. Realtor's suck at math at the best of times - See Brounal's attempted ROI comparison between buy vs. invest... His numbers are beyond misleading - and we already know that the real-estate boards across Canada are messing with their stats by presenting a "home price index" instead of real numbers. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if somebody is outright fudging the numbers.

[E3V]

I see a lot of SOLD signs - of course that doesn't mean it was at asking price. i don't think much is gonna change until they start hiking rates.

[theyeti]

wheres that hero realtor from regina ... he can fix this

[Glacier]

By my count houses in my neighbourhood have been dropping by about $110/day since December 2010. The decline has been slow and steady with no definite signs of changing course any time soon.

[LoneWolf_53]

+2 on the cooking. Realtor's suck at math at the best of times - See Brounal's attempted ROI comparison between buy vs. invest... His numbers are beyond misleading - and we already know that the real-estate boards across Canada are messing with their stats by presenting a "home price index" instead of real numbers. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if somebody is outright fudging the numbers.

+3 on the cooking. That group has always been prone to blowing sunshine up peoples butts, when it's quite clear that it's pouring out to everyone else.

As far as I'm concerned any statistics they provide aren't worth the paper they're written on.

[sportster72]

From the Van Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/real-estate/Mortgage+rules+exacerbating+housing+sales+slump/7256186/story.html

"The value of home sales in B.C. declined more than 25 per cent last month compared to a year ago"

But talk to the guys from OMREB and everything is rosy and some sectors are up? Up where? Up their... ???

[Glacier]

LOL, these guys have not shame...

“Provincially, overall unit sales are expected to be down 4.4 per cent this year before rising 7.5 per cent in 2013,” said Muir.

[sportster72]

A friend has had a house listed first at $499 and later at $469. It's unsold for over a year. Just a street away an almost identical house has just come on the market at $349. That's no 4% down, that's almost one third down in a year. What planets are these realtors from? I thought lawyers were the ones who only lied when their lips were moving.

[mrj222]

I'm really glad I never got into the ponzi scheme in Kelowna. I'm actually going in to put an offer on a house up near the north coast in about an hour. The house will sell for around 100k whether we get it or not and is on a 1acre lot. the rental units in the area have been exhausted by the influx of workers and the population (both temporary and permanent) is expected to grow continually for at least the next 5 years. It's a great buy.

My point is there is a lot of industry coming either here or the nearby communities and that is driving sales, and house prices up, and will continue to do so as construction on the projects ramp up. What's driving the house prices in Kelowna? Realtors and contractors.... see a problem? I do.