With sales at the most expensive end of Vancouver’s property market still declining and prices falling in the first months of 2019, one luxury realtor is trying a glass-half-full view in a market many see as half-empty.
But “our people have noticed an increase in buyer interest,” said Sotheby’s CEO Brad Henderson, “an increase in showings and increase in traffic going through open houses. That activity is typically a precursor to intention.” In the broader property market, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver recorded sales in February that were down 33 per cent from the same month a year ago and 42 per cent lower than the 10-year average.
In Montreal, Sotheby’s said sales continued to trend upwards in the $1-million-and-over bracket after a big increase in 2018. Toronto, the realty firm characterized as “stabilized from previous years’ unpredictability.”