Are you aware there are Vancouver (The Couve) housing market trends besides the sellers or buyers market? Buying a home around The Couve can be confusing because of how the housing market works. In our “Go with the Flow” series, you’ll get parts of the Clark County housing information to help you search for homes. Think of this as our glimpse into real estate as our unique transparent “behind the scenes” and proactive approach to help you with a successful home buying process outcome.
When discussing living around The Couve in Washington, we’ll be referring to these main cities: Vancouver, Camas, and Washougal.
Tip: Understand yearly inventory timing cycles and what to expect to help plan your home search.
Go with the Flow
Let’s talk about the Vancouver housing market patterns that you’ll see throughout the year. This way you can know what to expect when looking for your home and learn to adjust based on what’s going on. I’ve seen many potential buyers become burnt out or discouraged because they didn’t know how to go with the flow. Instead of being reactive, you can learn and be more proactive with guidance from your realtor (like me) to establish a more strategic home searching plan to reduce the stress in the process.
Here are the housing market activity trends you’ll want know to about:
- Yearly
- Weekly
- Sellers vs Buyers Market
- House prices
- Time of day traffic
- Interest rates
I’ll be discussing each housing trend activity during the “Go with the Flow” series with inventory patterns as well as insights. In this post, I’ll share more about part one focusing on what to expect when searching for a home throughout the year.
Yearly
Is there the best time to buy a home around The Couve? That depends on your goal of when you either need or want to and what’s the inventory like. Think of the yearly home inventory as an up-and-down cycle of busy and slow times. In general, there will be houses on the market any time of year, it’s more about whether they meet your must-haves, needs, and wants criteria. This is something you’ll want to establish with your realtor to help you refine your search for a home before going to see them.
By Quarters
When watching or listening to the news, you may find that those who are reporting information on the housing market talk about how inventory is based on the quarters. Usually, this is to go with the financial markets either with the mortgage rates, interest rates, or stock prices. However, The Couve housing market activity can fall in between the quarters.
At a high level for housing quarterly, view the inventory similar to a bell-shaped curve, where quarters 2 and 3 have more housing inventory as well as buyers’ interests, and quarters 1 and 4 with less housing inventory and buyers’ interest.
Seasonally
Housing inventory follows a more seasonal cadence rather than quarterly. Keep in mind that some “season” weather can start early or linger longer than usual.
Spring and Summer
Spring would be from March, April, and May, and Summer would be from June, July, and August.
Keep in mind the following:
- Increased housing inventory around March/April peaking around May/June and decreasing end of July/August
- Review dates added or added shortly after becoming active listing
- Weather can be warmer and humid (may still have periods of rain)
- More family members accompanied during these times
- More daylight available to see the houses’ natural light
- House could be warmer if no AC
- May be competing with other buyers for a desirable home
Fall and Winter
Fall would be considered really September and October, and parts of November and Winter would be November, December, January, and February.
Keep in mind the following:
- The Couve housing inventory can be lower or on the market longer
- Offers tend to be upon receipt
- The weather could be cool and wetter
- With snow, could be harder to get to (especially on private roads and hills)
- Less daylight is available from mid-October through February (from 4 pm)
- House / floors could be colder / freezing if no heat on
- May see less competition with other buyers
The Couve Suburban Houses Near Schools
The Couve has attracted buyers to good schools. You’ll want to understand the following trends:
- May see an increase in The Couve housing inventory near schools (more common by elementary)
- Buying and selling tend to follow the end-of-year school calendar
- April/May/June become available; however, may ask for delayed possession in order to wait until school is done (June/July/August)
- More family members may accompany you to view the home
- May see multiple bids for desirable homes in good condition with close proximity to the schools
How Does This Help You?
When you understand how The Couve housing market trends for the year either based on the quarter, season, or whether focused on being near schools, you’ll be able to go with the flow with less stress when you’re looking for the home you want. There can be exceptions of course, however, if you want to know what to expect for your own The Couve home search, reach out to me for a home strategy session and we can start to develop a proactive plan to help you through the home journey process.
Next up!
Now that you understand the yearly trend, let’s get you familiar with how to navigate with Go with the Flow Part 2: Weekly! These additional insights will help save you time and stress!
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