If you’re selling your home, you’ll have a very personal perspective on what it‘s worth. You’ll remember all the hours you put into making the backyard flower garden beautiful, or the work you put into renovating the basement, or the money you spent on installing new hardwood floors in the living room and hallways.

It’s natural to want these improvements factored into the asking price.

However, potential buyers don’t have that same perspective. Although they may appreciate the improvements made to the home, buyers will only be interested in paying current market value for your property. That’s the price for which comparable homes with comparable features are currently selling in your area.

Buyers don’t see all the hours you spent on improvements and renovations.

What they see, instead, are the final features: the hardwood floors, the freshly painted bedrooms, the sparkling new master ensuite. Features like these will certainly help sell your home faster and for the best price — but that price will likely be close to the current market value.

Now, it’s tempting to try to set a list price high above the current market value in the hopes that some buyer will appreciate all the time and money put into the property. But that strategy rarely, if ever, works. In most cases, pricing your home higher than comparable properties on the market only discourages potential buyers from viewing it.

Buyers expect to pay market price.

Want to know the market value of your home? Call the Dion-Ivans Real Estate Group today!!

Property Type:
28.7% of purchases were by Move-Up Buyers 
18.9% by First Time Buyers 
12.8% buying Revenue/Investment Property (up from 8.4% in October)*
10.4% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit
9.1% purchasing Recreation Property (up from 7.3% in October)*
4.3% moving from Strata property to Single Family Home 
3.7% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community (up from 2.8% in October)*

* During the month of November, there was a jump in the sales of Revenue/Investment and Recreation Properties, and an increase in Seniors moving to Retirement Communities compared to October – as noted above. Other categories remained at similar levels to the previous month.

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):
27.1% Couple without Children 
27.1% Two Parent Family/Children (up from 18.6% in October)**
19.4% Empty Nesters/Retired  (down from 24.0% in October)**
10.0% Single Female (down from 14.8% in October)**
8.8% Single Male (down from 16.4% in October)**
5.3% Single Parent with Children (up from 3.8% in October)**

** In November, there was a significant increase in purchases by Two Parent Families with Children, and by Single Parents compared to October – as noted above, while other categories saw decreases or remained at similar levels as the previous month.

Moving From: 
57.6% from Within OMREB Board Area  
11.6% from Alberta  (down from 14.3% in October)***
10.5% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island  (down from 13.7% in October)***
9.3% from Other Areas in BC (up from 8.8% in October)***
4.1% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (up from 0.5% in October)***
3.5% from Outside Canada (up from 2.2% in October)***
2.9% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes 
0.6% from NWT/Yukon (15th month reported)

*** Compared to October, there was less migration from Alberta and the Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island in November, but more movement from other areas of BC, Saskatchewan/Manitoba, and outside Canada -- as noted above.

Information provided by www.omreb.com

After a pause in October, Canadian employment surged in November, rising by 59,000.  The increase in jobs was primarily in full-time employment, which grew by 55,200. The Canadian unemployment rate declined 0.2 points to 7.2 per cent.

The BC economy lost jobs for the second consecutive month as payrolls declined by 4,700. Job losses were concentrated in the services sector and particularly in the healthcare and government sectors. The BC unemployment rate edged 0.1 points higher to 6.8 per cent. In spite of recent declines, employment in BC has still grown 1.7 per cent over 2011, a significant improvement in job growth from last year's 0.8 per cent. 

The US economy added 146,000 jobs in November while its unemployment rate fell to 7.7 per cent. However, the November jobs report was particularly noisy due to disruption from Hurricane Sandy.

Information provided by www.bcrea.bc.ca

Canadian building permits rose 15 per cent in October, offsetting a 13 per cent decline in September . The increase in permits was largely a result of surging non-residential construction intentions in Quebec and Ontario. In BC, permitting activity sagged 18 per cent with declines in both residential (-17 per cent) and non-residential (-19 per cent) permit volume. However, this follows an outstanding September that saw permit volumes over $1 billion. Averaging over the last three months, total BC building permits were trending over $920 million per month. On a year-over-year basis, total BC permit volume was 20 per cent higher than October 2011.

Permit activity in BC's four major metropolitan areas moderated in October, with the exception of the Kelowna CMA which saw permit volumes spring forward following previous months of slower activity. Kelowna CMA permits more than doubled in October and were 53 per cent higher year-over-year.  The Vancouver CMA saw total permits fall 40 per cent month-over-month but were up 11 per cent year-over-year in October. In the Abbotsford CMA, permits tumbled following a very strong September. Likewise, the Victoria CMA saw permit volumes fall 31 per cent month-over-month in October,  but were 17 per cent higher than October 2011.

Information provided by www.bcrea.bc.ca

Following the surprise announcement that Mark Carney will be departing to helm the Bank of England, it was back to business as usual at the Bank of Canada as interest rates were once again held constant at 1 per cent. The statement released this morning in support of the interest rate decision noted that while the global economy appears to have stabilized, it still remains vulnerable to major shocks from the US or Europe. The Canadian economy is growing at a slightly softer pace than the Bank expected, but is forecast to pick up in 2013.   On inflation, the Bank sees core inflation returning to its 2 per cent target over the next 12 months.

The Bank once again noted that a gradual withdrawal of monetary stimulus would likely be required, though the timing of such withdrawal would be weighed against global and domestic developments including the evolution of household imbalances. We continue to forecast a 25 basis point increase in the Bank's overnight target rate occurring in mid-to-late 2013.

Information provided www.bcrea.bc.ca