What is a good real estate investment now. In Toronto, the return on investment on rental of any real estate remains low. One has to count on appreciation of the property to make money. This is somewhat risky but it appears that prices in Toronto have appreciated substantially through the years and will continue to do so. So hedging on price increase may not be that risky.  Buying condos on spec may become more popular again. Condos have taken a downturn during the pandemic but appear to have bounced back. The reopening of immigration has not begun and that may create a new demand.

We are in a lull for listings. It was a crazy spring. Many homes and condos were sold. We saw some big bidding wars for homes and some very high prices. The number of bids on properties seems to have gone down but the prices have really not. We are seeing some strong numbers come in on both houses and condos. As soon as we see more product (and we may just see more listings as pandemic settles), we anticipate a strong market to continue. Summer may be quite busy.

How will reopening of Ontario affect the real estate market. We are wondering if anything will change when people start socializing and going out. Looking at real estate was something to do during the pandemic and it turned into a buying frenzy. I am wondering if people will be distracted with other things and the market will quiet down. That is really hard to say. I think whatever happens it will take time. Change won’t be immediate. Hence we anticipate the summer and fall to be busy. And then we will see.

Many buyers are fed up with blind bidding but no one forces anyone to bid high or low. The house will sell for whatever the market will bear ie whatever the buyer wants to pay. Its stressful for buyers but its also stressful for sellers who often need the money to purchase something else. Or they have already purchased something else for a high number. As agents representing sellers we are under contract to get the most we can for them. We have to follow the rules but situations are not always clear cut. There is more to the sale than just the number. There is closing date, conditions and sometimes a feeling of comfort with the buyer. Most agents we deal with are ethical. Its stressful for listing agents as well. It’s definitely not an easy market for anyone these days. Having a good agent working for you is important.

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 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.

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.