With the Ontario election less than one week away and interest rates rising, the real estate market in Windsor-Essex is experiencing a cool down.
However, the price of a home is still significant, leaving many constituents feeling left out of the market, yet hopeful that the election might bring with it some improvements.
“Optimism and hope is always there because that’s all we have, right?” said Shanike Gordon, a single mom with two kids renting an apartment in Windsor.
Gordon hopes to get into the housing market soon.
“That’s the goal at the end of the day — you have somewhere for you and your kids to be able to call home,” she said.
The latest numbers indicate a shift in the local real estate climate, with buyers taking a more conservative approach, and sellers not seeing as much competition for their houses as before, according to Windsor realtor Abe Alhakim.
“We’ve noticed a slowdown in the market over the past few months,” explained Alhakim, who works with LC Platinum Realty.
“We’ve noticed buyers have put their plans on hold, especially with the increase in interest rates from the Bank of Canada, which has already had one interest rate increase and more is planned over the next few months. And also there’s an Ontario election coming up, so people want to kind of see how things work out over the next few months.”
After months of prices climbing, the average price of a home in Windsor-Essex dipped to $692,759 in April. It was the first decline in the average sale price of a home since September 2021. At its peak, the average price of a home reached $723,739 in March.
The number of sales also dipped by 16 per cent in April compared to the month prior. Sales also dropped by nearly 19 per cent compared to April 2021.
Alhakim describes it as a “mixed market” where some homes are still selling significantly over asking price with multiple offers and bidding wars, while other houses aren’t seeing the same kind of demand.
Realtor Abe Alhakim says the real estate market in Windsor-Essex is experiencing a slow down. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC)
As for what’s anticipated for the coming months, Alhakim noted, “that’s the golden question.”
“I anticipate the market will stay stabilized and balanced over the next few months, but it remains to be seen how expected interest rate increases are going to affect the market — and also the Ontario elections.”
He noted that the decline has some feeling “fearful” while others are jumping at the opportunity to buy a home at a cheaper price point.
Housing key election issue
Housing costs are a key issue for voters across Ontario, with bidding wars and low supply having driven prices up in recent years. To address the issue, the PC Party, NDP and Liberal Party leaders have all pledged to build 1.5 million homes if elected.
For Leamington’s Terry Maiuri, it’s particularly concerning as he considers the impact the soaring prices are having on his son.
“It’s just getting ridiculous for the younger generation, I’d say, to afford housing,” Maiuri said.
Terry Maiuri, left, Lisa Lum, centre, and Shanike Gordon, right have affordability of housing on their minds during this provincial election. (CBC)
His 20-year-old son is close to completing his university studies, and Maiuri is concerned about what comes next.
“I told my wife the other day, with the price of houses, I said, ‘My God, he’s going to be living with us until he’s 40.’ Like, how does someone starting out as an adult afford housing, let alone apartment rentals?” he asked.
“It just seems a little ridiculous.”
He added that while politicians say they realize there’s a problem, he doesn’t think any party is doing enough to address the issue.
Shanike Gordon on housing
7 hours ago
Duration 0:48
Single mom Shanike Gordon shares her hope of buying a home one day.
Windsor voter Lisa Lum says affordable housing is key for her this election. She said, after living in her Walkerville home for eight years, she was recently evicted after her landlord sold the duplex she was renting.
Now, she’s in a new home in the same neighbourhood, but it’s significantly smaller, paying $500 more in rent.
As for whether she might want to buy down the road, she doesn’t believe that to be realistic given the state of the market.
“I wouldn’t be able to with the bidding wars that are here,” she said.
“I mean, how do you even get the down payment when homes that were bought, you know, five years ago for $120,000, and now they’re going for five and $600,000?”
While she’s optimistic more can be done by political leaders to address rent control, she doesn’t have confidence much will change when it comes to real estate.
As for Gordon, she’s not sure she’ll be voting at all in the provincial election, but explained stronger action on housing could sway her.
“Anything that caters for housing, families, single families especially, I’m all for it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alhakim continues to monitor the market, adding that he doesn’t expect a major correction in the market, but envisions the market settling into a plateau this year.
The housing market in Windsor-Essex is experiencing a cool down, with a dip in the average price of a home and fewer offers on some homes, according to realtor Abe Alhakim. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC)
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.
