Crisp air, snow dusted mountain tops and restaurant specials throughout the resort are a sure sign winter is on its way in Whistler! With just over a month to go before the start of the ski season, there is much anticipation that this year will be a big snow year – we sure hope so too!
On the real estate front, we are also anticipating that at some point interest rates will “move the dial” for the market. As you will read below, market sales activity is tracking on par with last year, however we do have more listing inventory available which does afford buyers more choice. Also worth noting is that Whistler’s market is relatively small and can turn quickly, so I would say if you are a buyer waiting on the sidelines now is good time to make a move. Prices have been fairly stable and this speaks to the type of owners in the resort who generally have no urgency to sell.
If you are thinking of either buying or selling, I would be happy to sit down and discuss the market and how it pertains to your situation. Feel free to call or drop by my office in the village at your convenience.
Whistler
Despite a typical slow summer of sales, inventory levels declined slightly throughout the quarter. This came as a function of an almost 40% reduction in the number of listings coming to the market in Q3 vs Q2 (Note: there was a flurry of new listings that in the market back in April and May as a result of the capital gains changes that quickly slowed following the June 25 effective date). In Whistler, there were a total of 104 sales in Q3 spread fairly equally across July, August and a slight pick up in September. This was a 44% decline from the previous quarter, and a 4% decline when compared to the same quarter last year. The luxury segment also slowed down a bit in Q3 with 7 sales over $4M in Whistler and a top sale of $8.7M. Year-to-date buyers origin remains fairly typical, with 81% of purchasers from BC, and a slight increase in the number of US based buyers from 8% at the end of Q2 up to 10% on the year. Market inventory is currently sitting 20% above inventory at this time last year and 25% above the 5-year average. Overall, Q3 market conditions in Whistler leaned in favour of buyers.
Pemberton
Both sales and inventory levels remained relatively steady in Pemberton throughout the quarter, with a slight slowdown in sales in September. There was a total of 27* sales in Q3, which was a 16% decline from Q2 sales volume but a 50% increase from Q3 of last year. This is likely a result of the three consecutive interest rate decreases we have seen since June along with the mounting consumer confidence that rates will continue to decrease throughout the end of the year and into next. There were 2 luxury sales in Pemberton over $2M, both of which came in August. Market inventory currently sits at 88 units, which is an overall 6% increase in inventory from the same time last year. However, when excluding vacant lots, inventory has actually decreased slightly versus September of last year. So far this year, Pemberton has seen 73% of buyers originating from either Whistler or Pemberton, and an additional 21% of buyers coming from the Lower Mainland and the remainder of BC. Overall, the Pemberton market also leaned in favour of buyers in Q3.