The Numbers Behind the Sales in Whistler

Well it took a little time – after all it is a science.    

    

Disclaimer    

The numbers could be off one or two sales.    

 I did not include timeshare    

The last couple of years existing projects sales have made their way into mainstream sales statistics 

(Homes that never sold during a new project launch – but since have).   

I never doctored any numbers, just gave you the real deal.    

 I did notice a trend – as there will be in all real estate markets.    

What I Noticed    

2002 and 2007 were very similar years, especially if you take out projects. Both years have record sales; I would say every four years Whistler has an upsurge in the market. In the middle of this surge is when prices start moving upwards; the supply would diminish and the demand would rise. The next up swing in the market should be in 2011 – yes 2011 last quarter is when I will sell my home.    

2004, 2005 and 2006  seem to be the slowest years for sales; I would venture to guess prices came down a little which helped to make 2007 a strong market. Which leads us to believe that if the market has slowed since 2007 and the next surge is in 2011 – then 2010 is the year to BUY.   

   

The language of Real Estate    

A few other items of importance when talking real estate: http://bit.ly/bksTG    

Above is a link to Wikipedia and a very interesting interpretation of the following…    

median is described as the numeric value separating the higher half of a sample    

mean is the sum of the observations divided by the number of observations    

  

Above is a picture of “At Natures Door” sold in 1/10th shares similar to 1/4 share  

The Number of Sales and the Product Type:  2002 – 2009

  

Type	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Chalets	143	95	64	101	114	169	83	93
Condos	755	434	339	301	337	553	338	257
Land	34	13	18	10	13	28	19	10
Projects	275	125	202	47	100	40	0	0
1/4 share	95	72	50	30	41	64	79	101
Total Sales	1300	729	696	528	644	943	519	483

Next blog will be my experience and cost as a tourist in Whistler during the New Years.   

If you want to subscribe to whistlerheather via E-mail, just fill in the subscription box 1/2 way up this blog on the left… 

I look forward to your comments – don’t be shy!   [tweetmeme source=whistlerheather only_single=false]

     

    

What Really Happened in Whistler During 2009

Like many of you 2009 was a year of change, the realization that it was time to pay attention, and that accountability was now very important.

The world became even smaller, what was happening overseas and in the US was now going to impact our future here in Canada like never before. The word transparency took on a whole new meaning.

Not so insulated from all the mayhem is beautiful Whistler, a global resort where property owners and sellers alike  come from all four corners of the globe; with the most being British Columbians.

During our global economic melt down of power of companies and private backroom deals – BC stood on the sidelines watching and waiting for the backlash to hit us… Some businesses and investors did experience much discomfort, mainly because they too had their finger in the pie.

But for the most part we saw a slower market throughout the province; first time home buyers fueled the sales under $600,000 and most cities with the exception being Vancouver felt the squeeze in the higher end of the market “Luxury” sales or discretionary spending.

Vancouver’s market has many people scratching their heads, Vancouver really has been a stable yet strong market for the year 2009.

Is this Olympic driven – perhaps.

Whistler otherwise finished the year of 2009, not so bad. The third quarter performed best, as it has year over year, and the number of sales was just slightly below 2008.

Sales total for 2009 = 483

Sales total for 2008 = 519

Which begs me to ask – how do people put gross recovery percentages behind their statements of the market? Numbers when doing statistics can always be manipulated by the person writing them, that is how.

In the next few days I will blog all the numbers for Whistler, quarter by quarter for the last eight years…. Just for fun!

 I will even try to remove projects – so as not to skew the numbers.

 If someone is going to give you any real estate advice make sure you ask the right questions.

You need to consider what is important to you, of course price depicts most decisions but there are other important factors, what segment of the market are you interested in, quarter share, chalets, condos – do you want a revenue property, or a place to bring your friends & family to enjoy the splendors of mountain living?

Because every area of a market is extremely different you want to ask for a micro synopsis of the product you are interested in selling or buying. 

Don’t miss understand me, the over all market is important; but never just take someones opinion (like mine) and feel you have enough information.

Where did they get the numbers from? 

Once again not knowing all the details puts you in an inferior place to negotiate. It also doesn’t make you feel confident with your buy or sale. One never wants to think they left money on the table.

 It was not hard to find the numbers on Whistler’s real estate market, you need only ask a licensed realtor for the stats – they can pull a single sheet that gives you the real story year over year; make sure it is a realtor from Whistler who has the access to the complete Whistler sales.

If you are lucky enough you’ll find a realtor that knows each year intimately. Some of the realtors were selling homes back in the 80’s….

ttp://bit.ly/8luGrM           

Above is a link to the Whistler Listing System  or WLS (I could not find any stats on this site)

As a home owner in Whistler I like to follow the market QUARTERLY – I am just waiting for the prices to go up again before I sell….. Sound familiar?

Cheers!   [tweetmeme source=whistlerheather only_single=false]