Local Real Estate Market and COVID-19

The world will never get back to normal.  The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on everyone worldwide.  The Town of Vulcan and County of Vulcan are no different.  I receive plenty of questions about how our real estate market is doing through all of this.  Well, as real estate associates, we have made a few changes.  Not all selling clients want people going through their homes these days.  That is understandable.  Sellers do not have to let people in.  It is as simple as that.  Some people are taking their properties off of the market because of this, and will try again once this has passed.  Not all buyers want to go through someone else's house either.  We just do not know where people have been.  There are documents for people to sign to state that they are healthy and have not travelled anywhere lately, but that is not always enough to make people feel safe.  I have found that the vacant properties are getting more attention than occupied ones.  My office has about three or four deals on the go as of the time of this writing.  This is nice to see as this is usually the time of year when the market gains strength.  At Magnuson Realty Ltd., I am using FaceBook Live for virtual open houses, plus I record videos of properties to post on the MLS system.  These are things that I have been meaning to do for years, but just never did.  Now, I feel that it is a must.  People can view the properties from the safety of their own homes and decide from there if they want to see them in person.  We also have electronic signatures.  We do not have to meet face-to-face with our clients to sign contracts and make changes.  I have had this for several years now, and it saves time, fuel, makes the contracts much cleaner than faxes, and now apparently it is safe for us, as there is less physical interaction.  We have to adapt in order to keep relevant in this new world.  And there is more time for webinars to learn how to be better at what we do.  The goal here is to come out of this stronger than when it started.

A Look Ahead for 2020

The past few years have certainly seen their ups and downs in the local real estate market.  Last year, the whole province was on a downhill slide.  This year, so far, my office has not had many enquiries about the lake, but the ones that we have had, have lead to the sale of a cottage lot.  I am told that the lot beside it sold privately, and there was another cottage lot sale reported through the Calgary Real Estate Board.  In an area where we have not seen many, if any, cottage lots sell over the pasts couple of years, this is certainly a positive sign.  Plus, the indoor pool and hot tub are operational again!  That has added some excitement to the owners at the lake, as this has been a long time coming.  Positive signs!

Summer 2019 and the Start of Winter

It has been an interesting year at Lake McGregor Country Estates in 2019.  Owners who are not staying at the resort are getting their units winterized, if they have not already.  We have seen some sales at the resort, which is positive.  Park models on their own lot have been selling for as low as $81,000 and as high as $135,000.  Four of these sales were reported on the Calgary Real Estate Board, and I believe that there were a couple of private transactions as well.  There was a cottage that had been on the market for a few years that finally sold around the $250K to $260K mark.  A couple more sold, one almost $50K below list price.  The trend is that it is still a buyer's market.  Those sellers that are holding out for more money, may end up holding on to their properties longer than those willing to make a deal and move on.  On the maintenance end of things, the resort is looking well.  There is even work happening on the indoor pool!  That will be great when that is up and running again!  There has been a house moved on to an interior log.  I think that our recent wet weather has delayed the completion of the setting up of the house, but it is still nice to see progress. The Canada Day parade was a success again this year, and I hear that the kids were happy with Halloween in July.  Along with boat poker and a wake boarding competition, there was plenty going on at the lake.  We all are looking forward to an even better season next year!

First Day of Summer

Today is the official first day of summer.  The docks are in, the outdoor pool is operational, and people are enjoying life at the lake.  The market has seen a few properties trade hands, but the market is still much like previous years, it is weak.  Provincially, the residential real estate market is seeing a large amount of inventory with a small number of potential buyers shopping.  Commercial property owners in the cities are seeing their property taxes grow faster than they would like.  It is putting strain on those owners.  Recreational property owners in Vulcan County are expressing their concerns about their high tax bills.  There is a group of recreational property owners from Lake McGregor Country Estates, Little Bow Resort, and other areas that are trying to work with the County to help address the situation.  It will be interesting to see how everyone makes out.

Community Association Dues - 2019

Just a reminder that the community association dues for 2019 have increased to $175 per month, which is $2100 per year.  This is the second year of the two year planned increase. as discussed in the Fall 2018 AGM.  You can click on the title of this post and it will take you to the Lake McGregor Resort website for find out more information, including a list of properties currently on the market at the resort.

Supply vs Demand

We have been hearing more and more of this over the past several months - supply versus demand. There is a larger supply of inventory on the real estate market than there is demand. The result is that buyers can be more picky when they are shopping around and they can take their time to shop. There is not a lot of competition amongst the buyers. There is more amongst the sellers. DOM - Days on Market - is the time it takes for a property to sell. Even in larger centres such as Calgary and Airdrie, there average days on the market is larger than it used to be. In Vulcan, we are looking at an average of 134 days for a residential property to sell. Does it necessarily mean that these properties are no good, that they have "issues"? No. It may mean that there is just not much of a market for those properties right now (not many buyers). Of course there could be some properties that are just priced too high, or some that do have "issues", so that's where buyers and their agents need to do their homework in order to make an informed decision.

Summary of Sale for 2018

According to the records gathered by Magnuson Realty Ltd. from the SPIN 2 website, there were eleven real estate transactions at the lake this year. Cottage lots sold between $40,000 and $48,000. There were three cottage sales and five RV/RV lots sales. This is three more sales than in 2017, and the same number of sales as in 2016.