Wonderful Spring is fully in play. Whether sunny or raining, the April encouragement for gardens, orchards, wild bracken at road sides to flower forward is spilling out everywhere.
The beginning of the month shares some early bareness with March, and the end of the month wears the signature fullness of May.
Enjoy it all…we are now in the treasured spring-summer coastal season.
The real estate market? The low inventory of listed properties continues and the relative stability in pricing also remains in place at this very beginning of April.
Buyers (after several months of treading water in actions) began to return to the recreational marketplace in October 2024 and this activity continued well into January 2025.
Then the uncertainties of Trudeau stepping down and proroguing parliament, Trumps tariffs threats, time delay in choosing a party successor to Trudeau and whether would be an early federal election, and so on…markets do not like uncertainty.
Buyers were once more treading water. Pauses in action do not necessarily mean a falling market.
The two main drivers to market action in our secondary home/recreational marketplace remain: a desire to leave urban for rural (seeking a more self-sufficient lifestyle) and an investment in real estate in a unique area (such as Islands Trust form of governance on the Gulf Islands) in order to preserve capital at a time our dollar is losing value.
These elements are still in play.
At the moment, most buyers continue to be from Vancouver. We are beginning to see renewed interest from Ontario and also from Canadians currently in the U.S
Due to the many societal issues in late January through to now, culminating in a federal election (on April 28th), it may take until mid-May to get the authentic market tone of the 2025 year.
Although the federal government will be responding to any tariffs brought by the U.S. President, there are ten provinces, with differing agendas for their very different and specific provincial concerns…it’s important to pay attention to the B.C. Premier’s Bill 7…this far-reaching and unilateral Bill (put in place without any legislative process) seems to be beyond a tariffs response. It is not being put in place with any other provinces / territories. It will give “war measures act” options for a two year period and can be extended if provincial government wishes. Hmmm….be informed.
(Note: the Premier is now walking back the initial Bill 7 elements. Read some of the concerns expressed about Bill 7 in my March market analysis segment).
Meantime, in spite of unresolved issues (tariffs impacts, federal election outcomes, currency concerns), here we are at the very beginning of amazing April.
Time to spring clean the house, the office, the car…wash those windows and let the light re-enter.
Enjoy those gallery openings, the welcome of the Saturday Market’s return, the ArtSpring seasonal offerings, the live music venues invitations, the spa retreats to wake us up to this new expansive season, with time to dine at our great restaurants and coffee stops (with a view), time to simply ease into the inspiration of wonderful Spring.
It’s April…enjoy!
Stay Tuned!!
