The 13-year-old unit has a two-storey design with a wall of windows and a glass-lined staircase beside the principal room below, which is outfitted with a fireplace and balcony doors.Royal LePage Signature Realty
The action
The owner of this 684-square-foot condo in a pedestrian-friendly area of Brampton priced it less than $400,000 and had it professionally staged to attract multiple offers. Six bidders came forward, but none could be coaxed into an offer close to $500,000.
“It was a buyer’s market at that time,” said agent Munira Ravji. “Just because you have an offer night and a lot of offers, it doesn’t always result in what you want.
“Our client walked away from all the offers, which were ranging from below $399,000 all the way to the high $400,000s.”
A new double-edged strategy was employed; an increase to the asking price while simultaneously posting it for lease at $2,500 a month. One buyer was intrigued, and after three on-site tours, submitted a written offer for $16,000 under the list price, which was accepted.
“When it’s first-time homebuyers, they’re so nervous about making the wrong choice,” Ms. Ravji said. “In this case, he felt satisfied with seeing it a [few] times first.
“Buyers are getting good prices and prices that might be undermarket. But there’s a general understanding that they’re also paying higher interest rates.”
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances, while the condo has two bathrooms and laundry machines.Royal LePage Signature Realty
What they got
This 13-year-old unit has a two-storey design with a wall of windows and a glass-lined staircase connecting the bedroom upstairs to the principal room below, outfitted with a fireplace and balcony doors.
The kitchen has stainless-steel appliances. There are two bathrooms and laundry machines.
A storage locker and parking come with the package. Monthly fees of $647 pay for water, heating, concierge and recreational amenities.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
