Back in March of last year, would you have predicted that the real estate market would be absolutely sizzling just one year after the onset of COVID-19?
On the latest episode of the Wealth Wisdom Podcast, I bring on one of Vancouver’s local real estate experts to answer a question that I often hear from many of you.
That is… “what’s happening in the real estate market right now?”
If you’ve so much as glimpsed at the local news recently, you probably know that the housing market has been scorching so far in 2021. Our guest on the latest episode of the Wealth Wisdom Podcast, Steve Saretsky, absolutely has his pulse on the real estate market in the Lower Mainland. He runs a well-known blog, his own YouTube channel, and he’s been a guest on networks such as CBC, Global News, BNN, Yahoo Finance and more.
So, what insights does Steve have on the local real estate market? We break down some of the highlights for you below. You can listen to the podcast in full through any of these avenues.
The “work-from-home” effect
One of the supposed drivers of the surging real estate market has been the “work from home” effect.
However, is the work-from-home effect actually driving real estate prices? Steve gives an insightful opinion on this in the clip below.
Should people be buying in this market?
Even though we’re managing your investments, this is still a question that we often hear from clients.
In this clip here Steve, touches on those buying a single-family home to live in, and those who are buying condos as an investment.
Buildings galore
Building in Vancouver – and investing in new properties in Vancouver – isn’t what it used to be.
As Steve mentions on the episode, there isn’t much new building going on in B.C.’s largest city. When new building does occur, investors are often paying around $1,600 per square foot if the property is being built downtown.
Yikes.
That being said, the Lower Mainland as a whole is breaking records in terms of new units under construction. What does this flood of supply mean for the economy and real estate investments? Steve touches on that here.
“Emotional Rescue” of the real estate market
Like I mentioned off the top, it’s been surprising for many to see real estate prices climb so drastically during a pandemic.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) as an entity have more insight than anyone else in the country on the real estate market. They were predicting a 9-18% drop in the market following the onset coronavirus pandemic one year ago.
Despite access to more real estate data than anyone else in the country, their bearish outlook was wrong.
Year over year, the real estate market across Canada is up 17%. Steve touched on a few of these reasons behind the surge throughout this episode, but in the clip below, he talks about the emotional drivers of real estate growth.
Bringing out the crystal ball
It wasn’t very nice of me to ask Steve to bring out his crystal ball. Regardless, he obliged and talked about the long-term outlook of the Lower Mainland real estate market here.
The two key components of the market moving forward, as Steve alludes to, are mortgage rates and inflation.
Next guest
It’s confession time.
If you listened to the end of the podcast, you heard me say that sleep expert Glenn Landry would be the next guest here on the Wealth Wisdom Podcast.
That was before the announcement that the federal government would be releasing their first budget in nearly two years. Because of that, we will have two tax experts on to give their initial thoughts on the budget.
Assante Regional Vice President of Wealth Planning, Cheryl Norton, and income tax planning specialist Bryan Hubbell from Manning Elliott will both join me on the next episode of the Wealth Wisdom Podcast to give their insights on the long-awaited federal budget, and what it means for you moving forward in a post-COVID world.
Glenn will join us on the following episode.
Until next time,
Assante Sana.
John Lawson
