Hi Everyone… It has been feeling a little like Groundhog day, you know that movie with Bill Murray who is a weatherman caught in a time loop, repeatedly reliving the same day. So, I was happy to hear yesterday that the Provincial government is moving into the second phase of BCs restart plan. April stats are out.. Sales dropped 40% on a year over year basis. And last year was the slowest April in 19 years. So, sales were the worst on record. New listings were also down 58% as people held off listing their homes. The market took a hard pivot from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market in very short order. Months of inventory is over 8 months. That means it would take 8 months to sell everything on the market and that’s if nothing else comes on. There is no real way to track and measure prices on a monthly basis especially when the volume numbers are so low. But for the most part, prices have remained firm though there have been some minor price discounting. For example, condos that would have got multiple offers before the virus and sold above asking are now seeing a bid slightly below the list price. While we may have flattened the curve, the economic fallout has yet to play out. The demand for housing is a function of employment, population growth and availability of credit. All three of which are contracting. This is the biggest economic event of our lifetimes. It is impossible to try to model where house prices might be in a few years. Nobody has the slightest clue. Out on the front lines I am seeing buyers and sellers that are looking at things in very different ways. The sellers think that the pricing should be the same as January or February - pre-CoVid because while demand has slowed so has supply so there is an equilibrium and prices aren’t really moving. And the buyers are thinking about a more uncertain future and want to be rewarded for taking a risk in such an environment. So….. what do you do when no one knows what’s to come? Well… The answer isn’t a one size fits all answer. So, if you are thinking of buying or selling and need some information on how best to proceed please reach out and let me know. I would be happy to be your resource for everything real estate.