Real eState

LACKIE: Real estate buyers happy to pay tomorrow's price today but they're not dummies – Toronto Sun

Published

3 years ago

February 26, 2022

Harry Miller

Prices must still be anchored in some form of reality

A real estate sign that reads “For Sale” and “Sold Above Asking” in Vaughan. Photo by Mark Blinch /REUTERS

The broad perception seems to be that the Toronto real estate market is now a market without reason with prices entirely unhinged from objective reality.

We see for sale signs quickly turn to sold. Houses appear to quite literally sell themselves within days and for numbers that seem baffling.

This, of course, is the natural consequence to the market conditions we have come to recognize: low supply, high demand, steep competition.

Naturally, sellers now have bold expectations.

And in a market with such deep competition, not just among buyers but also among agents for scant listings, big numbers are being thrown around. And there have been some big sales recently that have surprised even me, and, if I’m being honest, very little surprises me about this market anymore.

But there is actually some measure to this madness.

Buyers aren’t willing to buy just anything. Overpriced listings will struggle.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Buyers who have been at this a while are now seeming much more comfortable calculating the opportunity cost in their opinion of value in order to make their bid count.

The idea that they have any real choice is so far removed now that would-be buyers have to arm themselves with the data from comparable sales in tandem with the projected month-over-month market appreciation to land on what fair market value should be.

But while comfortable swimming in the deep end and having to pay tomorrow’s price today, they’re not dummies — prices must still be anchored in some form of reality.

Remarkable about this market is that in spite of all the talk about rising interest rates coming down the pike, there doesn’t seem to be the type of hesitation we might have witnessed in the past. Once upon a time, even the mention of a new cooling measure would have had an immediate effect. Not so right now.

At several points since the dawn of our pandemic real estate market we have noticed little hiccups, such as in the early days when the market on the whole ground to a standstill with the first lockdown, and again as the condo market had its little seize-up alongside a surge of inventory in the fall of 2020.

To people closely watching the market there have been a number of discernible little lulls followed by surges.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

If you look at the sale data for the week of February’s “Snowpocalypse” that ground our city to a halt, you will see the effect of the diminished competition. If enough buyers decide to sit this one out, the lift on the price will be hampered. Come to the table on one of those offer nights and you might score yourself a relative deal.

So for the buyers who are happy to seize the slivers of opportunity and pounce, there have been some wins — particularly in the condo market. But now that the price gap between houses and condos is larger than it has ever been before while still being the smallest it is likely ever to be again, the condo market is the last way in for many people and we are seeing that reflected out there. We are back to 30 offers. Sale prices that can surpass closely comparable recent sales by $100,000.

And it would be easy to think that’s sellers being greedy and buyers being irresponsible, that might just be the nature of the game now. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact any bump to interest rates might have.

I suspect that there will be a resultant stall to market activity and prices, but it will be short lived. We’ll be back to this, though possibly on a proportionately smaller scale.

@brynnlackie

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Real eState

Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

Source link

Real eState

Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

Published

3 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

Source link

Real eState

B.C. voters face atmospheric river with heavy rain, high winds on election day

Published

3 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.

Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.

The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.

Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.

More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.

Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.

An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

Source link