Page 4 - Real Estate Now-Mar/Apr 2022

What Will the Spring

2022 Housing Market

Look Like?

Michelle McNally courtesy REALTOR.ca
he spring housing market is often regarded as one of the
busiest and most important times to buy or sell a home.
TWith increasing inflation, rising property prices, and record-
low housing supply, the 2022 spring market could be a challenge
to navigate without the skills and knowledge of an experienced
REALTOR®.

Today, we speak with Davelle Morrison, a Toronto-based REALTOR® and broker with Bosley Real Estate and Alex Yao,
a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Select Properties in Vancouver to hear what they predict home buyers and sellers could
expect this spring.

What we can generally expect from a spring market
Some may consider the spring market to occur between March and May. However, Morrison points out the spring
market can start as early as January after home buyers have spent holiday downtime surfing REALTOR.ca and
evaluating their plans for the new year.
“If I were advising a client who has a listing, I would say get out there in January and February, because that’s when
there really aren’t a lot of listings, but there’s a lot of demand,” she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic knocked the market out of its regular seasonal patterns in 2020, capsizing the spring market
to seasonally low sales levels and pushing transactions into the summer and fall markets.

Yao explains affordability and the work-from-home movement will continue to play a role in influencing buyer
activity in spring 2022.
A large part of the Vancouver market is made up of families with children seeking more space for greater affordability,
Yao said. Many households are moving to the outskirts of the region to communities such as Coquitlam, Surrey, and
Maple Ridge, which can be more affordable than metro Vancouver.
The timing of the spring market and how it coincides with the school year will also be a convincing factor for families
to move.
“Spring has always been a family type of moving period because as they’re getting ready to move—going to make
a purchase or sale of a home—they’re lining up the move around the summertime when the kids are out of school,”
said Yao. “Typically, that purchase or sale has to happen in the spring to line up for a move in the summer.”
For those living in outer-city communities who may be required to return to their downtown office, Morrison says
busy road traffic and long travel times may persuade buyers to pick up a pied-à-terre condo to make their commutes
easier.
Housing supply has been hovering around extreme lows for some time. In its December 2021 housing market update,
the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported there was just 1.8 months of inventory available nationwide.

4 | REAL ESTATE NOW | LB@LoraleeBurns.com