It wasn’t only the ghost stories, carved pumpkins, and ghoulish get-up’s spooking people across the Metro Vancouver region last month, the local property market was too!

Inflation and rising interest rates have created ongoing caution for buyers and sellers, with home sale activity trending well below historical averages for October.

Andrew Lis, Director of Economics and Data Analysis at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) commented on these trends saying, “Inflation and rising interest rates continue to dominate headlines, leading many buyers and sellers to assess how these factors impact their housing options. With sales remaining near historic lows, the number of active listings continues to inch upward, causing home prices to recede from the record highs set in the spring of 2022.”

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https://stilhavn.com/metro-vancouver-housing-update-october-2022/

Maximizing your curb’s attributes and curating the front yard helps elevate the street-side view from your home. In addition to improving the value of your property, landscaping for curb appeal helps minimize the obvious problem areas of your yard. The process of transforming your yard into an attractive space doesn’t have to be difficult, daunting, or expensive. Here are some DIY options that don’t break the bank:

https://stilhavn.com/curb-appeal-home-exterior-renovations-that-boost-value/

The witching hour is upon us where ghouls search for goodies, skulls allude to sweets and cauldrons boil with creepy crawly treats.

It’s trick-or-treating time and we have a few spooky suggestions for how you can decorate your home with DYI decor that are fun for the whole family. It’s eerie, made easy…

https://stilhavn.com/top-5-diy-tips-to-make-your-home-wickedly-welcoming-this-halloween/

It seems the fall weather hasn’t deterred sellers from entering the local property market last month, however buyers remained cautious, with demand levels sitting below the region’s long-term averages.

Andrew Lis, Director, economics and data analytics at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) released comment as to why September’s records may have showed fewer buyers across Metro Vancouver*. He shared that, “With the Bank of Canada and other central banks around the globe hiking rates in an effort to stamp out inflation, the cost to borrow funds has risen substantially over a short period. This has resulted in a more challenging environment for borrowers looking to purchase a home, and home sales across the region have dropped accordingly.”

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https://stilhavn.com/metro-vancouver-housing-update-september-2022/

You’ve decided to turn your bathroom into your home’s ultimate relaxation refuge. You’ve decided that the ‘70s green fibreglass tub needs to step into the current decade. Or you’ve moved into your new home and realized that the solo-shower situo, needs to become more of a convenient shower-tub situo.

Whatever your reasons for adding or replacing a bathtub, you might find our top 5 tips on how to pick out the perfect tub, to be quite helpful…

https://stilhavn.com/top-5-tips-for-picking-the-perfect-tub/

August is a time when vacations are calling, a new school year is approaching and buyers and sellers generally take time out to enjoy a quieter end to their summer season.

This year, August looked no different, as Metro Vancouver’s housing market experiencing reduced sale and listing activity.

Andrew Lis, Director of Economics and Data Analysis at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), touched on additional factors also shaping last month’s trends, sharing that “With inflationary pressure and interest rates on the rise, home buyer and seller activity shifted below our long-term seasonal averages this summer. This shift in market conditions caused prices to edge down over the past four months.”

Although the crux of the pandemic seems to be behind us (touches wood with crossed fingertips), a lot of us continue to work from a home-based office. To some, this comes as a blessing, having home comforts such as our coffee maker on standby and zero commute. To others, it takes away a more social element and begins to combine home life with work life.

For those that are working remotely now, and even indefinitely, we have some great tips for how to make your remote-based workspace efficient, enjoyable, and effective.

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https://stilhavn.com/top-5-ways-to-make-working-from-home-a-success/

As the warmer weather ramped up across Metro Vancouver last month, the demand for residential property continued to ease. With the gradual rise in home supply, buyers were still taking things slow, spending more time assessing the market and enjoying being able to weigh up their options.

“Home buyers are exercising more caution in today’s market in response to rising interest rates and inflationary concerns. This allowed the selection of homes for sale to increase and prices to edge down in the region over the last three months”, says Daniel John, Chair of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

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https://stilhavn.com/metro-vancouver-housing-update-july-2022/

It seems warmer weather isn’t the only change that summer has brought home buyers across Metro Vancouver*, but also further increases to the growing residential property pool.

According to Daniel John, Chair at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), “Home buyers have more selection to choose from and more time to make decisions than they did over the past year. Rising interest rates and inflationary concerns are making buyers more cautious, which is allowing listings to accumulate.”

Now operating in a changing marketplace, buyers are weighing up various home types, price, and potential locations, which is resulting in less homes being sold across the region.

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https://stilhavn.com/metro-vancouver-housing-update-june-2022/

As summer prepares to peek its head over rooftops, peer through fence slats and beam in through kitchen windows, perhaps it’s a good time to give your home a little spruce up!

From adding some small pops of colour here or making the entrance to your home feel more inviting, here are our Top 5 suggestions that any home owner can try…

https://stilhavn.com/top-5-summer-spruce-ups/

With its name giving a pretty good indication of its whereabouts, West Vancouver is a municipality of B.C., (incorporated back in 1912), and is one part of a local regional group that makes up what we often refer to as the ‘North Shore’.

History

Having grown in population since 1938 when the iconic Lion’s Gate Bridge opened to traffic, people were able to visit and relocate much easier, as prior to this, the area was only accessible by ferry. It’s for this reason that some homes in West Vancouver date back to the 1920s and 30s, though most of the existing dwellings were built later, in the 1970s and 80s.

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https://stilhavn.com/location-spotlight-west-vancouver/

Thinking of painting some walls? Perhaps adding colour to your doors or sidings? Or maybe it’s time to add a new coat to your home’s exterior?

Since we’re your real estate experts and unfortunately not your paint experts, we thought it was only right to reach out to those truly with the paint know-how to get you the scoop on what’s hot, what paints are kind on your nose and which ones are handy to have if you have children who like to practice their wall art…

If you’re in the market for a spruce up, and paint is on the list, take a read of what your local experts suggest before picking up that brush…

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https://stilhavn.com/top-5-paint-tips-from-the-experts/