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Misleading Statistics?


Blog by Brent Eilers | November 9th, 2017


Perception vs. Reality! Recently it has been reported that we had a reasonably healthy October Real Estate market in West Vancouver. Sales were up over last year, and prices were stable. If you look a little closer however, you may see a different picture.

It is true that we had 29 sales, up from 22 last year, but did you know that the average Oct sales total for the last 30 years is 62? Further, there were 536 detached homeowners that were unhappy because their homes FAILED to sell...that resulted in a dismal 5.4% sales to listing ratio.

The average price for the month was down only -4% from the Y.T.D. average, however, when one looks at the broader picture, one realizes that there were two giant sales in Oct. If you take those rare sales out of the mix, the average price was down -22%. So which is it, down -4%, or down -22%, or somewhere in between?

If you care about, or rely on statistical information in making important Real Estate decisions, make sure that the information you receive is properly presented to your satisfaction,  and is specifically relevant to your location, price range, and type of accomodation.