Bob Truman, First Place Realty

"Why do so many people despise you?"

I think what he really means is "why do three bubble bloggers despise you" LOL

This was in the Herald yesterday..."These days, with buyers at the helm, it's has changed dramatically. In April, on average, it was taking 52 days to sell a home, up from an average of 42 days for the same month a year ago. That's because there are more homes and more room to negotiate prices."

How inaccurate is that?

Buyers and sellers could come away with a very misleading impression of the market from that story. True, it's a lot different from last year, but exactly the opposite to what that story says. Homes under $500,000, are moving very quickly and we don't have anywhere near the inventory. The Herald got that one very wrong. DOM stats are a dangerous tool in the hands of the wrong people. -Bob

Speaking of bubblers who despise Bob:

Two more posts on Garth Turner's blog that ridicule Bob... surprise, surprise, one of them is squidly77.

http://www.greaterfool.ca/2009/05/16/the-meeting/#comments

Thanks for the great stats. 21 days on market sounds a lot different from CREB's 50 days.

This spring bounce is creating some strange happenings. The moderator of the Victoria Bubble blog has publicly stated he is buying a house:

"Sure, we could find a house to rent, but quite frankly, I am tired of moving around and what to put roots down. If it were possible to time the market, and if we could wait longer, we would. But you can't time the market, and we have to move this year, so we're going to jump in, with eyes wide open."

http://www.victoriastruth.blogspot.com/

Even Garth Turner has reportedly bought 3 properties recently.

I went to school with Tony Hunt(aka squidly77). All I remember is that he was really bad at math.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Housing+market+bottom/1609000/story.html

Interesting article, will we see another drop in the average price to 370K this year?

I think the homes are sold faster in the entry level (<350k). One of the main factors is that the first time buyers have been sitting on the fence for too long now and now they think the ship has arrived. I would be more optimistic when I see homes in the mid-range start moving. One of the key factors that we should not overlook is the employment rate, there are more people looking for jobs now compared to the same time last year. Many big oil and gas companies been in the "wait n see" status so if things are not improve drasticly in the next quarter or two, you will see some major shake-ups.  

Market heating up?

Seasonal strength. Low low rates, ie variable of 2.2% if credit is great. Lower prices. Homes more affordable. More buyers.

Don't forget the confidence factor. Buyers see their RRSP's  doing better than last year. Brief rally in the US stock market sent oil prices higher which sent TSX index higher and therefore RRSPs look good.

Will this last?

Seasonal strength says a couple of months more of activity. However, the US stock market is in the beginning of it's next leg down. Which means Oil down. TSX down. RRSP's down. Which will mean lower consumer confidence levels  in the single economy oil province.  

Note to AB bureaucrats and politicians: Please work harder on understanding why economic diversification away from the oil infrastructure is conducive to long term economic health.