Sunshine Coast property market on a wild ride this spring

Sunshine Coast Real Estate Statistics for April 2022

All segments of the market, with the exception of Land Only properties, have realized a small downturn in unit sales but are still seeing gains over last year in terms of dollar volume.  We are at an “in between” stage right now with some properties continuing to enjoy the “wild ride” of heavy attention – then multiple offers, and some properties are being ignored by the market entirely… Lets see how it breaks out:

Detached residential sales are up in dollar volume by 8% to $94,750,000 yet down in unit sales by 10% to 72 homes sold compared to April last year.  Our available inventory, while up overall, is still down 10% from this time last year to 153 detached homes available.  This means our sales success ratio is 47%. This sales success ratio is down 5% from last month but still astronomical when one understands it is considered a seller’s market at a ratio above 20%.  Year to date we see that dollar volume is down 9% to $273,325,000 and unit sales are down 23% to 228 homes sold.  Despite the slackening demand the average home price is still up 19% over last year to $1,199,000.

Condo and townhome sales are down in dollar volume by 47% to $8,781,000 and down in unit sales by 56% to 13 homes sold in April.  The available inventory is dead even from last month at 50 units.  Therefore, our sales success ratio is 26%….this is a marked drop from last month where the sales success ratio was 64%!!! Yet, it is still a sellers’ market. Year to date dollar volume is down 23% to $44,491,000 and unit sales are down 34% to 67 units sold so far this year.  As with detached homes, despite the slackening demand the average condo/town home price is up 19% to $660,000.

Land only sales are a bright spot for sales this month with dollar volume up 47% over last month to $22,050,000 and unit sales are up 12% to 28 units sold.  This weird discrepancy is accounted for by the sale of a 6 acre piece in Sechelt for 8.7 million.  Available inventory is way, way down by 55% to 57 available lots.  Therefore, the sales success ratio for this segment of the market is 49%…!  Year to date we see dollar volume is up 3% to $54,000,000 and unit sales are down 20% to 84 units sold. The average price of a piece of bare land, although skewed somewhat by last month’s high value sale previously mentioned, is up 30% to $642,000.

Overall, the statistics show us that the market is continuing the trend of higher prices and lack of inventory. Thrown into the mix is a pronounced slackening of demand from buyers. So, we start seeing several months in a row now where dollar volume continues to set records while unit volume continues to decrease slightly.  I have certainly seen a slowdown in demand through the lens of my own business. A 50 basis point jump in the overnight rate (with many more to come it seems), buyer fatigue and, it would seem, a general lack of urgency on the part of buyers is starting to play a significant role.  Add to this the recently legislated “cooling off period” enacted by the Provincial Government (as yet without specifics and, IMHO, without merit) and we will continue to see a downturn in unit sales…..

As strange and unique as this market is and has been (and no doubt will continue to be) I am keeping my eyes and ears open so I can advise you properly when you need to buy or sell. For market stats call your realtor, for market intelligence call Russ Qureshi at 604-741-7119 or email at russ@coastlifestyles.ca