We Have Buyers, but How do we Tempt the Sellers?

Low inventory has become more acute due to COVID-19.

• 
• By Nancy Smith
• Qualicum Beach REALTOR®
• Published: May 31st, 2020 at 5:54 pm

June 1st/2020

The most common knee-jerk market reaction was two fold; in that many people did not want a variety of people tromping through their homes, and secondly, people were concerned the market will tank. Some people are bobbing around with delight in their eyes, looking for that upswing in desperate sales due to foreclosures and B&B operations hitting a wall of cancellations. (On Vancouver Island, they may need eye drops.)

Those situations represent a small percentage of Vancouver Island market and sadly two of my clients were just trumped in their offers to purchase. Inventory took a dip, but for the past five years, inventory has not been very stagnant and the low availability of desirable homes, has left many shoppers empty handed.

Currently I have quite a few potential purchasers who have been looking for months and years for the right property. Some of these people have cash in hand, but the government scared everyone with the empty home tax. No one wants to be paying the government to keep an empty home until they can move, after tidying up finances and selling their existing home to move to BC. Many of these people just put off their retirement purchase, but now they are ready to move. Alas, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the cogs.

I am currently working on two other deals, and hopefully we can avoid a wrench or two.