It’s officially a Seller’s Market. We dipped our toes into a Seller’s market in February and then jumped straight into it during March. For the first time in a long time, the average sale price was above the average list price. We’re seeing more and more multiple-offer situations showing up week to week and well-priced homes are selling quickly.

“It’s a Seller’s Market”

You may be surprised by this and might be asking, “How did we get here?” In my opinion, here are the top 3 reasons.

The Bank of Canada has stopped raising interest rates and this has been a clear signal to everyone that we are at the peak or just about at the peak for the prime lending rate. With the uncertainty of higher rates going away, more buyers can move forward with confidence about what they can afford.

Fixed interest rates have come down. This is the most important rate as most Canadians choose a 5-year fixed rate mortgage. This is now sitting at 4.5% which is much lower that the 5.5% interest rate that we saw a few months back. Buyers are locking in these rates with 120-day rate holds so this will bring more buyers to the market that were priced out at higher rates.

“A City the Size of Hamilton Just Arrived”

If you haven’t heard yet, Canada welcomed one million new residents in 2022. Yes, that was not a typo, one million. This is way above what was targeted and represents the largest population growth that we’ve had in a single year…ever. Generally, about half of those residents settle in Ontario with the majority of them in the GTHA. Imagine the residents from a city the size of Hamilton showing up in a 12-month period and trying to find a place to live. We don’t build anywhere near enough homes for that and this puts upward pressure on the market.

What should you do if you are thinking of making a move but are not sure about when would be best? You should consider moving up your timetable because we are likely to see price increases coming to our market over the next couple of months. We are already seeing upward pressure on prices in February and March. It would be best to get ahead of the curve and benefit from the current pricing as opposed to higher pricing later in the year.

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