Bidding on homes is difficult to guide in todays market. The challenge for buyers in today’s market is to know if a house that comes on the market is actually within their budget or if it will go substantially higher. The list price is often just a starting point. When a house comes out clients will often call me and ask “What do you think it will sell for. Should we go look at it?” Some houses are selling for what we think they should, some are going a lot higher and some are actually not getting to where we thought. This makes it difficult for buyers to decide what to do and difficult for agents to guide their clients. It’s basically trial and error. This makes for a lot of work for everyone and a lot of up and down emotion for buyers. Not easy..

Will the new stress test cool the crazy real estate market or will it keep going. Buyers may scramble to buy with the deadline for the new stress test looming. Buyers will now have to qualify with a higher interest rate. Or maybe it won’t cool things at all. Homes appear to be the most important thing to spend money on so buyers may continue to spend. The streets in the city appear to be eerily quiet. It’s March/April break and no one is going anywhere. Everyone is home. It’s tough out there.

Will spring and warm weather bring more houses – will it be enough to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. A number of properties have come onto the market in the past couple of weeks. Some sold well over list in multiple offers but not every home achieved the multiple offer situation they were looking for and hence did not achieve the price they were looking for. Some relisted for a higher price. If a significant number of homes come on the market in the coming weeks we will see if the prices level. We think prices may flatten but don’t think they will come down.

So much activity in the market – the desire to move during the pandemic has not died down. Market frenzy continues and now condos are in low supply and high demand. It looks like prices of condos are starting to bounce back up to where they were. Hard to find a bargain. We are expecting a surge of immigration after the pandemic and we anticipate that they will join in the buying frenzy. Hence we anticipate prices of homes and condos to continue to rise this year.

Higher end real estate market is really moving and prices are going up. There was a time when it wasn’t so easy and fast to sell a listing over $5 million. Now the process can be quick and these homes can attract multiple offers, selling for record prices. This is definitely a pandemic induced situation when the comforts of home are becoming so much more important. Costs of renovating continue to rise. What cost $50,000 a couple of years ago is now $75,000 – 50% more. That translates into $100s of thousands on a build. It’s tough to swallow but people are paying.

The house and condo market is extremely busy with so many in multiple offers. We listed a house and a condo last week. In 4 days the house has received over 90 appointments. The condo is also very busy. Both are not taking offers until later this week. Sellers used to look at pre-emptive or bully offers but in the current market most aren’t looking at offers until the offer date. It’s just too busy and most times it pays off to wait. The frenzy is exhausting for buyers, sellers, and for agents. We expect it to be quite busy through this year. The pandemic has spurred a lot of movement and we aren’t done yet.

The open space trend may be taking a shift. In the past few years open airy space was what everyone wanted. Now, with almost a year of pandemic behind us and the amount of time we have all spent at home, both working and family time, some privacy and walls may be needed. This shift in needs may be permanent and may affect how homes are designed. It’s quite amazing how quickly the world has changed and how we have needed to adapt with it.

Nothing is stopping buyers – snow, pandemic, virus variant, vaccine shortages, lockdown. Buyers are still scrambling for houses and now even condos are starting to get multiple offers. Toronto keeps going up in value and so does cottage country. Maybe a new perspective for many – if we are going to spend so much time at home let’s make it comfortable. Pandemic may have highlighted the value of a home – its maybe something that we didn’t appreciate as much before. Home has become our safe place and for many their sanctuary.

Everyone is getting tired – February blues are even bluer this year. Despite all that this real estate market is forging ahead. Buyers are clamouring over listings and bidding wars are rampant. People seem to be focused on better living space as they are home so much and there is nothing else to do.  “The comforts of home” are the little joys that we have to look forward to. We have to remember that spring is around the corner and the pandemic WILL end.