Recreation and cottage markets are following a similar trend to the city market. This may be a good opportunity for buyers thinking of buying a cottage.

Our team works with excellent agents in different parts of the province. I am sharing a blurb by my colleague Mark Veer who‘s team works the Collingwood/Thornbury area.

The Collingwood/Blue Mountains real estate market has slowed a bit over the past few weeks. After two years of record high prices, we’re seeing signs that this upward trend is starting to flatten out.

– Mark Veer

Real estate prices are all over the board. We thought that the market had cooled and in some areas almost died. However we see that homes are still selling and many over their list price. The market is not dead. Pricing and expectations just have to be real and not overinflated. What sold a couple of months ago will probably not sell for the same price now. This will create some new opportunities for some as it may be a good time to upgrade and/or buy.

This too shall pass… an expression that now applies to the real estate market. Earlier in the year we experienced some intense bidding wars for homes, sometimes with over 20 offers and 100 showings in a week. The prices were jumping up quickly as buyers snatched up houses. 4 months later this scenario is no longer the case. We are still seeing multiple offers but not always and sometimes there are no offers that come in.

Interest rates are up, inflation is up. Buyers are not jumping as high and sellers are often disappointed with results. Interestingly the change in market is starting at the bottom. Usually it starts at the top. With the change in market will come a change in pricing strategy. We are a market in transition.

The jury is still out for condos. Condos did not experience the same recent activity and surge in prices as homes. With the end of the pandemic condos may get a good bump up this year.

Premium prices for high end turn key homes on premium lots in premium locations. There are not too many homes in the city that have it all and it appears that the ones that do are getting record prices. Last week a home in Baby Point was listed for $8.5 mill and in 3 days attracted 3 bids selling for $9.6 mill. It had a fabulous ravine lot with a large tableland. The house was beautiful and the landscaping was spectacular. This is for sure a record price for the area and shows that if you do it right buyers appreciate it. The cost of building and renovating is so high now and takes so much time that turn key is worth paying up for in some buyers eyes.

Luxury cottage rentals readjusting post pandemic. When the pandemic started and no one could travel demand for cottage rentals surged. Demand was so high that prices more than doubled. Many who never wanted to own cottages because they wanted to travel bought cottages so prices surged. Now stuck carrying these cottages with higher carrying costs due to inflation and increasing interest rates, cottage owners are trying to subsidize with renting. Also, people are travelling. Hence less demand for rentals, more supply and readjustment of prices.

We will see how many cottages come for sale as those who are not really cottage people decide that owning a cottage is just too much work and too expensive. It’s not for everyone.

Will the hot housing market be less hot without foreign buyers. The Liberal government has announced that it will ban foreign investors from buying homes in Canada for two years in order to cool off the hot housing market. In addition the government announced higher taxes for those who sell homes within 1 year. There are many exemptions to this rule and one may surmise that foreign buyers will use loopholes. This rule could potentially affect condo sales especially new construction where foreign buyers have often put their money. Toronto and Vancouver are 2 places that may be affected as foreign buyers like to put their money in these cities. Canadians do need housing for their own. We will see how these rules work to help.

Toronto’s real estate landscape is evolving. It’s with some nostalgia that we see landmark Toronto buildings coming down to see brand new shiny condos being built in their place.

Bathurst and Bloor saw Honest Ed’s Warehouse come down and in its place a condo building. Now plans are proceeding to take down the Mirvish owned Princess of Wales theatre on King St to build two towers 73 and 74 stories tall.  This project will be designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry and will include 2034 condo apartments, office space or a hotel and a new facility for OCAD University. It will be called Forma and pre-sales are to begin this year.

It’s a delicate balance of maintaining the spirit and soul of a city and yet providing the necessary living space so lacking in this city. We hope that the new Frank Gehry designed development on King St will be just as iconic as the theatre. Apparently it will be his tallest and largest project anywhere.

“Globeandmail.com, Sat April 2nd, 2022, A6”

The problem with buying a home is that the supply and selection have been so low that many buyers have not been able to find what they want. The idea of a “dream home” is almost a dream for most. Buyers don’t want to settle but they also don’t want to or can’t pay the price for what they want. And the market keeps going up. Many buyers have been looking for years.

We have always said – if you really want to buy a house, you will. In todays market you just have to compromise and compromise a lot. Selection is starting to look a bit better as we start the spring market.

Beginning of spring market in Toronto appears to be busy. We are seeing more homes come out. World instability has perhaps pushed those who were thinking of selling to sell. Potentially rising interest rates may also push buyers to buy. Inflation is definitely on its way up and will have to be addressed. Here is the thing – we have no idea what will happen. Any attempts at forecasting are speculative at best.

The concept of having a real estate team has grown in popularity in the past number of years. There are many reasons why it makes sense to hire a team. Firstly, there is always someone there to service the client for whatever need they may have. Agents who are good are busy and it is really hard to be everywhere at the same time. A team who has specialized people for each category is able to move fast and efficiently. There is someone handling home preparation, staging, social media, and advertising. A team can handle all of a clients real estate needs whether it is buying, selling or leasing. We become a group of consultants who are able to service families of different generations with all their needs.

On the other side, younger less experienced agents are able to be mentored by more experienced agents. It is a win win for everyone to hire a team.