Well-maintained homes with parking on good streets in great neighbourhoods with excellent schools are still in demand
It is indisputable that the real estate market is having a moment.
While some say it’s a crash of apocalyptic proportions, others insist that what we are witnessing is no more than a necessary tempering following a truly mind-blowing run. None of it is good, of course, but on the one hand it’s like the ship is going down while on the other we have something closer to a ran-out-of-fuel-with-no-wind-in-the-sails type scenario.
The past two-and-a-half years have been equal parts incredible and horrifying to behold. And while the course our market has taken since the mid-aughts has certainly had some sticky moments here and there on its upward trajectory, if you squint, it’s been almost a straight line of rapid appreciation.
What one might conclude from that is largely a choose-your-own-adventure at this point.
The bulls — and please note that I make a very loud and clear distinction between those with a bullish faith in the long-term value of real estate versus the real estate boosters who will never not be happy to sell you something — instead subscribe to the certainty that like any investment asset, there will be downtimes but the idea is to hold on for the long-term and win.
Things are still selling. Well, the good stuff is selling. And the well-priced stuff is selling quickly.
It is.
Well-maintained homes with parking on good streets in great neighbourhoods with excellent schools are still in demand. We know this because they still sell in multiple offers. The lift may be smaller than it might have been last winter but buyers are willing to compete.
Every agent I know who works in central Toronto has buyers standing in the wings, waiting for inventory to improve. This is especially so for move-up buyers who are sitting on substantial equity in their homes and have mortgages they can usually port. By their calculations, the opportunity afforded by prices moderating outweighs the increased costs of borrowing that most assume will start to come back down again in a matter of years. Most are just waiting for some stability to return to the marketplace.
What comes next is anyone’s guess. Key word being guess.
One thing I absolutely know for certain: families will continue to form, expand, dissolve, and repeat. Life goes on irrespective of the economic forecasts.
