The last few weeks have been crazy busy and the blog has been neglected, but alas I am back!
Right now is a very interesting time in the market. Seller’s are expecting high prices and buyers are expecting deals which only leads to one thing… a good ol’ fashion tug of war.
Buyers are taking their time and sellers are holding strong at prices that they would have gotten if the market was rewound by about two months.
For the most part it is safe to say that prices have peaked for now and just because your neighbour got $1.1M back just a few months ago doesn’t even mean you may get $1M today with the exact same house. But these seller’s don’t give a crap about logic and are still fighting for the higher price points and many are still getting them.
Houses in pristine condition, great areas are still attracting multiple bids but if any work needs to be done to the house it is quite the opposite story. House listings are up significantly and buyers in the freehold market simply have more choice.
On the other hand the condo market is holding and performing very well though and record prices are still popping up all the time. Supply is still shockingly low for condo buyers and the number of well priced great units is abysmal. Lot’s of sellers are hoping to get top dollar for their never upgraded, bad layout and no view units, which just won’t happen anymore. Today’s buyer is much more selective and patient.
TREB released their May numbers today and the most notable part of that is that listings are up substantially. What this report fails to tell you is just how many of these listings are houses that set an offer date and never sold then were relisted (very common right now). According to TREB we are at 2 months supply which is still a seller’s market and don’t kid yourself buyers, you aren’t the only one looking right now.
Both properties I have listed recently have received plenty of showings and very busy open houses which to me says there are still plenty of people looking to buy.
The good news is I think we are heading towards a more balanced market. Great houses/condos will get lots of money, while mediocre product will get what they deserve (ie. more realistic pricing).
Don’t expect a flood of listings over the summer months and a lot of the existing inventory will get swallowed up with time and there is a possibility we could go back to bigger price increases yet again. Let’s just hope Kathleen Wynne doesn’t come up with some more silly effort to try and “cool” the market and that interest rates remain pretty stable.
