What Have I Noticed in the Market This Week?
Contradictions.
We have a fabulous detached house listed in Leslieville right now, and despite a full marketing plan, the number of private showings has been disappointing.
What makes it even more puzzling is that more than 30 groups came through our weekend open houses.
So where did they go?
Why didn’t more of those people come back with their agents for a second look?
I wish I had a simple answer.
A few people at the open house did mention the lack of parking, and that may be a bigger factor in this market than we initially thought. On offer night, we didn’t receive any offers. When I spoke with other agents in the area who also had homes listed without parking, they were seeing the same thing: fewer showings and little to no offer activity.
Meanwhile, another nearby property with parking for two cars received more than 10 offers.
Same general market. Very different result.
And then there is the other side of what I’m seeing.
This week we hosted our second first-time buyer seminar in just two weeks and were pleasantly surprised to have more than 20 people attend. Our seminar two weeks earlier had just under 20 attendees.
That tells me something.
The buyers are out there.
They are curious. They are educating themselves. They are going to open houses. They are asking questions. They are watching prices.
They just don’t seem to be in a hurry to make offers.
And maybe that is the real story of the market right now.
Buyers have not disappeared. They have become much more selective.
A few years ago, a buyer might have overlooked something like no parking because they were worried that if they didn’t buy the house, someone else would.
Today, they are more comfortable saying, “I like it, but I’m going to keep looking.”
That can be frustrating for sellers, but it also gives us valuable information.
Features matter more.
Presentation matters more.
And understanding what today’s buyer is willing to compromise on, and what they are not, matters more than ever.
What gives me some optimism is that people are still showing up.
Thirty-plus groups at an open house is not a lack of interest.
Forty-plus people attending first-time buyer seminars over two weeks is not a lack of interest.
It tells me there is a lot of pent-up demand sitting on the sidelines.
The question is what will finally make those buyers act.
Will it be the right house?
A further adjustment in price?
More confidence in the economy?
Or simply reaching the point where they are tired of waiting?
I suspect it will be a little bit of all of the above.
And when buyers do decide they are ready, they may discover that the amount of choice is not quite as plentiful as they expected. August actually saw GTA new listings fall 14.1% compared with last year, while sales declined by only 2.1%.
So yes, this market is full of contradictions.
But that is also what makes it interesting.
People are looking. People are learning. People are planning.
And eventually, some of those people are going to become buyers.
The job right now is to make sure that when they are ready, your property is the one they want.
And please don’t forget if you need to buy or sell, please call Davelle.
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