Despite continued negative real estate reports in the media, we are starting to see increased interest in the BC waterfront real estate market again. While site traffic remained higher year over year, August-December 2008 were exceptionally slow in terms of the number of inquiries that went through the site; however,  in mid-January we saw a sudden increase in serious inquiries. This month, we are forecasting more unique visitors than we had last February (when the market was still hot). With interest rates at extreme lows (5 year mortgages available for 4.02) and average house prices starting to fall, it is beginning to make sense to jump into the market again.

While interest has picked up and I believe there is some pent up demand, the buyers out there know the market well and many are looking for deals. With forecasts calling for a hunkering down and a year or two more of these tough economic times, buyers who are ready to make the jump into some new real estate want a good price.

If you are a buyer, you can find some well-priced (under assessed value, foreclosures, etc...) waterfront properties in our "Hot Properties" newsletter by signing-up here.

If you are a seller and need to sell, make sure your house shows well and is priced aggressively. Also, you can review review Ozzie Jurock's article 10 Ways to Make Your Home Sell Faster by clicking here.

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It seems like 2009 may be shaping up to be a year where deals start to pop up in the BC real estate market. We know a lot of you are out there looking for them, but we have been hearing that many buyers are scared to act now for fear that prices will fall further. Recent news that waterfront appraisals in some areas are down and sales are stalling combined with increased media hype about the poor economy will likely result in further price adjustments across BC in 2009. Depending on how long this "recession" continues, this could potentially be a great year for buyers to get in there and make some good buys on prime waterfront property.

All of the "bad" real estate news coming out right now is welcome news for buyers as it has made sellers more aware of the situation and as a result, homes are being priced much more competitively than in the past few years. I believe the days of multiple offers, $30, 000 over asking have come and gone; but they will most likely be back when we hit the next peak in the market.

Most BC property owners have already received their 2008 property assesments. Because property prices started to decline slightly after the 2008 assesments were completed, most properties will be taxed based on their lower 2007 assesment. The government has done this in part to avoid the unnecessary process of property owners appealing their assesments. Brian Hawkins, an assesor in Greater Victoria stated that higher-end and waterfront properties started to drop off in price earlier than some of the other types of property. He attributed this to their higher price escalation over the past 5 years.

To make things even better for buyers, some of the best-discounted 5-year mortgage rates that I have seen in a while showed up this week on Ozzie Jurock's Email notice. 5 year rates as low as 4.67 % are being offered by Meridian Canadian Mortgages.

We will be sending out a quarterly "Hot Properties" email with properties we believe represent good value in today's market, so if you're interested, sign- up here . Happy house hunting!

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