There’s that old carnival saying, “Round and Round she goes, were she stops, nobody knows”!
Well, that’s what the real estate market in Ottawa and many towns and cities across Canada is like. The number one question we get is “When will this end?”
The truth is nobody really knows. It could end when interest rates climb to a point that makes borrowing too expensive. One reason prices are getting so high is that it’s cheap to borrow money right now and lock that payment in for 5 or more years. We know of several people who were not selling or buying but re-financed their homes, payed a penalty for an early discharge of their present mortgage and still came out ahead because the new mortgage rate was so much lower than their existing rate.
Buyers have been able to get mortgage rates as low as 1.65%. They are creeping up a bit but even at 2 or 2.5% it is still very affordable to borrow money. And with COVID and the economy suffering because of it, interest rates should not jump too much higher.
There may be a time in the future that buyers start to push back against these high prices and tough multiple offer situations. We are seeing a bit of this right now as we right this blog. The stats from March are impressive. Number of transaction are up by 50% compared to last March. Average residential sale prices are up by 35% in the Ottawa area over last March and condo prices are up almost 18% March over March.
The number of offers on individual homes seems to be dropping. Less and less we are seeing 20 or more offers on a home but the majority of sales still involve multiple offers.
So, what do you do? If you’re buying and selling it’s not a huge issue except to find the right home to buy. Financially your home may be worth a lot more than it used to be but so is what you want to buy. If you’re a first time buyer, buckle up! For the reasonable future there will still be plenty of bidding wars, over asking price sales and not enough homes. Number one is get your financial picture in order. Speak to your lender about a pre-approval or call us and we’ll set you up with some of our great mortgage people.
Of course we will help you though every step and try to make the sale and or purchase as easy as we can.
Stay health and safe!
It’s early February. COVID-19 is still present and accounted for with newer more contagious strains growing in numbers. Some areas are just starting to relax some of the strictest lockdown measures we have seen.
All of this and the Ottawa real estate market is booming. Both the rise in value and number of units have risen dramatically. The average house price in Ottawa is now over $677,197 up 31.2% over last January and units sold were up 21% over last January.
The stats are a little bit misleading as there was an unusual number of $1,000,000+ homes sold in January but even eliminating those home, the rise in value is still substantial.
Condos have not fared as well but have still had decent increases in value. These properties has increased a modest 12.8% to an average price of $380,366. However, the number of units sold has increased dramatically by 31.2% over last January. There has been lots of condos on the market which has kept the increase in value down but as the stats show, they are stating to get bought up and this can only lead to higher values.
We’re here to help with all your real estate needs so if you want to know what your home is worth simply write of call.
It has been an unbelievable year! There really was and is too much going on to make sense of it all. Pandemics, racial tensions, US CRAZY election, hurricanes, fires and conflicts around the world. It’s hard to stay level headed when times are so volatile.
This is one of the reasons we look forward to the Holiday Season. Christmas, New Years and Hanukkah! These holidays have one very important thing in common … FAMILY! Although each one celebrates a different event they all have family at their core.
Unfortunately, this year we should not be gathering in large numbers or with others, in order to help stem the tide of the COVID Pandemic. It is a hardship. It’s disappointing to not be able to get together as we have always done in the past. But let’s put things in perspective. IT WILL ONLY BE FOR ONE HOLIDAY SEASON if we all work together and keep our gatherings to just a few household members, wear our masks when out in public, washer or sanitize our hands before touching our faces and social distance whenever possible.
So, let’s respect and protect each other and make sure that next Holiday Season can be back to normal.
LEST WE FORGET.
It is the middle of October 2020 and we have once again realized an extraordinary real estate market! Many, many multiple offers, sale prices tens of thousands of dollars over asking price and most offers having no conditions whatsoever has been “normal” for most of the Spring and Summer market.
The big question always is, “Why is this happening?” There’s not one answer and a lot depend on location. Just outside of Ottawa in smaller towns and cities such as Arnprior, Smiths Falls, Perth and others, have all seen an increase in interest and value. The Corona pandemic has forced many people into working from home and have shown their employers that this method of working can be greatly beneficial to all. Many firms have decided to allow and even encourage their staff to continue to work from home either full time or for most of their working day. This has led to a surge in sale of properties that normally would be considered too far of a commute for work.
Within the city, the demand for house is still out stripping the supply although that seems to be changing right now. We are starting to see less and less listing coming on the market asking that offers be held off (no conveyance of offers) and starting to see less multiple offer situations. There are still plenty of multiple offers, but now we may see two or three offers on a property instead of eight to fifteen or more! This is somewhat expected as we move deeper and deeper into the Fall and approach the Winter months. Plus, a great deal of the demand has been satisfied. And there is a significant number of buyers who have just quit the mark out of frustration or affordability. It is still a buyers’ market and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
If you’re thinking of selling or buying, let us help you through today’s market which after over thirty years in the real estate business, has certainly been the most interesting and challenging!
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