Local home owners aren’t trading up: report
Posted February 21, 2013 10:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – You buy a home, build some equity, and one day, you trade up to a better one. A new report finds most Canadians are movin’ on up — except those living here.
The RE/MAX “Move-Up Buyers Report” finds activity in the traditional move-up price ranges climbed 87 per cent in 2012 from the year before. That upward trend was witnessed in 14 out of the 16 markets studied; Vancouver and Victoria were the exceptions.
But Elton Ash with RE/MAX says there is a bright side. “When you looked at the 10- and five-year house appreciation averages, Vancouver has done very well over the last 10 years.”
The report suggests local homeowners will likely stay put, due to a six per cent fall in average home prices last year. Ash says that may not be so bad in the long run.
“What we’re going to see for 2013, with the low interest rates that are staying in place, and the lower overall unit sales [is] a slightly softer market in the Vancouver area, which in the long term will bolster sales affordability,” he predicts.
