It's a buyer's market in Squamish as real estate inventory increased and reported sales decreased in August 2010 compared to the same time last year.
The most staggering decrease in sales was in detached homes -seven sold last month compared to 24 in 2009, according to new figures released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
But one local real estate agent said the figures are misleading because August 2009 was when the market finally started to pick up after the drastic slowdown. Lisa Bjornson, managing broker for Black Tusk Realty, said the sales figures for the first eight months of 2010 remain above the 2009 levels.
"Between January 2010 and Aug. 31, we've sold 125 single-family detached units, which is up from 111 last year," said Bjornson. "That's a 12 per cent increase in units sold."
She acknowledged August had been relatively slow but said the market is compensated somewhat by strong sales of townhouses and apartments.
In August 2010, nine townhouses and four apartments sold compared to eight townhouses and six apartments in August 2009, according to REBGV.
"While single family sales are down, townhouses and apartments are up - August over August - and reason is price point, what is more affordable," she said.
Bjornson said it's been quite the adjustment from the winter months over 2007 and 2008 when the market was hot for sellers.
"There wasn't a lot of inventory out there so if buyers saw something, they didn't have time to hum and haw - they needed to snatch it up."
Remax managing broker Patricia Place said the strong townhouse and apartment market is being driven by more price-conscious buyers who are taking advantage of the high inventory by spending more time assessing and comparing prices.
There are currently 213 detached residential homes, 72 townhouses and 98 apartments actively on the market.
"Real estate has been quiet these last several months," said Place.
"They keep saying it's a buyer's market out there and it is - there's a lot of inventory out there and a lot of buyers out there - it's just that there's so much product to choose from that buyer's are taking their time and deciding what it is that they want to buy."
Despite the delays in purchasing, Place said now is the time to buy since prices and interest rates are too good to pass up.
"[We're seeing] great pricing and their interest rates are great," she said. "It's just we're not seeing as much activity as we thought we would be."
She and Bjornson agreed Squamish needs to promote both its attractive lifestyle and the short jaunt to Vancouver in order to attract keener buyers.
"I think what we need to do is still educate people in the city, in the Lower Mainland, the proximity that Squamish is to Vancouver," said Place. "It really blows me away when I'm in the city and people say 'You came all the way from Squamish?'
"We need to really get it out there that to drive from Squamish to Vancouver takes half the time it does to drive from Maple Ridge to downtown Vancouver, or White Rock to Vancouver - people are just not educated in knowing where we're actually located."
Bjornson said the Squamish lifestyle itself "needs to be discussed" since that would also be a huge draw.
"Squamish just has so much to offer as far as we now have most of the major amenities, we have so many recreational opportunities at our doorstep, a small community - we need to play up the general strengths of Squamish along with the ease of the commute."
She said the market is very fluid right now and doesn't take much to make it go up or down, as the difference between August sales and the rest of the year demonstrated.
"The buying public is still a little leery," said Bjornson. "The general sense is we're hoping activity will stay at a constant level and have an overall effect of stabilizing both prices and inventory."
