During our Christmas Cash Contest, we asked you what you would like to see in future episodes of Real Estate TV. Our participants had some wonderful suggestions! Thank you to all our entrants, and congratulations to our winners! We hope that you had enjoyed spending your extra Christmas Cash! The winning entries requested information on home inspections, regulatory changes in the BC Real Estate market, and rights-of-way and easements on titles.
It has been our pleasure to show you some of what we do as real estate agents, as well as some of our favourite places in the Comox Valley. This year we have covered a wide variety of topics in our Real Estate TV episodes. The real estate industry is host to many legislative requirements and it’s also subject to regulations and bylaws that may vary depending on the location of the property. Buying a house, or selling one, involves plenty of ins-and-outs that we’ve enjoyed discussing on our episodes.
One of the topics we’ve discussed was insurance for various situations, including while you’re away for extended vacations and the different types of insurance needed for condos. We’ve also looked at regulations for properties adjacent to sensitive fish habitat, what to check for when building a shop, and even the details on stigmatized properties. Another thing we enjoyed doing with this year’s episodes was showing you our favourite places in the Valley and touring some of our properties with you. It’s been a fun year sharing these episodes with you and we’re excited to continue with Real Estate TV in 2019.
The real estate market itself has been an interesting one in 2018. The housing market has been hot in recent years, and 2018 started off this way. It was expected to moderate itself this year, and we’ve started to see that happen. Some of this is due a result of the extreme expansion we’ve seen. That level of growth is unsustainable long-term, so the market will balance itself to a certain point. Some of the cooling is also because of government intervention. We’ve seen several policies put in place to help slow it down a bit, including new taxes for foreign buyers, and new mortgage regulations. However, on the whole, prices compared to last year are still up across Vancouver Island.
In 2019, the real estate market is expected to continue correcting itself. According to real estate predictions, prices are not expected to drop, but overall sales are expected to slow down, compared to previous years. This may present an opportunity for buyers, as there will be less competition for properties.
If you’re planning to sell your house in 2019, one of the best things you can do is make sure your home is for sale at the right price. Pricing is an important part of any property for sale, but with lower demand expected, it will be even more important. Want to see what your home is worth? Thinking of buying in the Comox Valley? Give us a call!
