We’ve almost made it half way through the year, and so far, it’s been a bit of an inconsistent year in real estate here in Whistler. Overall the number of sales is almost the exact same as last year at this time. By the end of May we had 236 sales in total in Whistler vs 239 sales in the same time frame in 2023.
April stood out as a stronger month, especially in the nightly rental and hotel investment segments. May was exactly on par with February and March in terms of sales numbers. But we saw quite the increase in chalet sales.
The month of June is an important one this year and many have waited in anticipation. Of course, we just heared the first big news. On June 5, the Bank of Canada cut interest rates for the first time in over four year.
Next up, capital gains. Earlier this year, the government announced its intention to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains from 50% to 66.7%. Although not decided on, it appear to be likely and if confirmed, it would come into effect on June 25. We certainly saw the impact of this as many second home / investment property owners decided to sell their property in hopes to close before this date.
Overall, we can say, that since we saw the market peak in 2022, we are seeing less sales, and more new listings. There are many external factors influencing buying and selling decisions, which makes an accurate prediction of the rest of the year hard. However, what we do know is that there are a lot of buyers circling. Will the interest rate drop be a catalyst for more buyer activity?
Residential:
Single Family. There were 9 sales of single family homes in Whistler in May 2024. The strongest month in this segment so far this year. Prices ranging from $2.9mil to $11mil. You can download a a sales report for those properties here.
Townhomes. We saw 10 townhome sales in May, the second lowest monthly number so far this year. With prices ranging from $857,500 to $3.48mil. This is a very big range, and has to be looked at a big closer. Apart from the obvious differentiators like size and location, it also has to be considerd, that some of these townhomes allow for nightly rentals, and thus the sales price is much higher. Click here to have a look at the detailed sales report.
Phase 2 (Hotel Properties):
7 sales of Phase 2 properties were recorded May of 2024. The previous month of April saw almost twice as many sales in this segment of the market. Sales prices ranged from $230,000 (studio) to $1mil (2 bedroom suite). You can download a a sales report for those properties here.
Condos that allow nighlty rentals (Phase 1):
We saw only 5 sales of properties in this category. With a price range of range from $515,000 to $1.575mil. You can find the sales report here.
