Buying a home at any time is a huge undertaking. It requires a lot of preparation, time and access to expertise.
Homeowners—and those who wish to become one for the first time—have it even harder right now, with conditions seeming to change from month to month.
REALTOR® Dave Starr specializes in home buying and selling in Newmarket and the surrounding areas. With over 35 years of experience in the real estate industry, he is happy to share what he’s learned with others.
Slowing things down
So how would he describe the current state of the market in Newmarket? “It’s finally more normal and realistic,” he says. “A prospective buyer has a little more breathing room to make sure that their financing is in place and they can also consider a home inspection.”
A seller will benefit by working with a more seasoned agent, he says, because they have had prior experience with similar markets. He likens the situation to a professional athlete who has played in the playoffs before or competed in a large-scale event like the Masters in golf.
Earlier in the year, the market was not realistic.
That tended to leave buyers, sellers and agents scrambling. “The end result can be a situation with buyer’s remorse, where the buyer no longer wants to close on their purchase. The banks sometimes struggle with appraisals, which can also result in a non-closure,” he says. “In the fast-paced market that took place earlier, some agents potentially made more mistakes, especially since they weren’t experienced enough to handle multiple offers.”
Home inspections and interest rates
While some homes may not require a home inspection, there are lots that definitely need one. “In an extremely busy market, buyers could potentially end up with an unwanted surprise—at a great expense,” says the REALTOR®.
He likens it to the necessity of having speed limits on our roadways. The faster you go, the more chances you have of getting into an accident.
“We are now facing an increased mortgage rate, which many would not like to see, but the truth is it will help balance the market overall. Lower interest rates basically were one of the reasons for the inflated house prices and homeowners were simply taking on larger mortgages than ever,” he says.
For years many homeowners would tell him the same thing: that mortgage money was cheap to them. His answer to that never varied: “You do know you have to pay it back at some point.” If the rate were guaranteed for a lifetime, it would be a different story, but of course that’s not the way it works.
The market over the summer was slower but typical; that has become the norm over the past few years.
The fall market is already starting to pick up, with increased activity, though the number of listings in Newmarket is quite low. Rental availability is both quite expensive and experiencing a shortage.
Says Starr, “The market moving forward should remain stable. Buyers and sellers will have more time to make the best educated decision for their needs and wants.”
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, he welcomes any calls or emails.
Let Dave Starr Real Estate help you make your next move. Call 416-520-3231 and get the Starr treatment you deserve.
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.
