We have made it through January and we are seeing a lot more people out looking for homes than we saw in December and the preceding months. The buyers are not necessarily buying but are definitely looking! The weather is warmer than expected and the number of buyers are higher than expected....so the groundhog may be right: we may be seeing an early Spring market.
The impact of higher interest rates continues to play a role in our market and still impacts our sales volumes. However with the rates being held, not increased in the four most recent Bank of Canada rate announcements, buyers seem to be starting to come back. While homes are still not selling quickly or for the price highs we were seeing a year ago, listings are getting a lot more activity than we saw last year.
Over all types of homes, we were again in a "balanced" market last month. One favouring neither buyers, nor sellers.
However for detached homes we were still in a "buyers' " market. This suggests that buyers looking for houses should move now (and smart ones are!) to get into the market while it is still in their favour for detached homes.
While we are in a buyer favourable market for houses, sellers are still doing well on their sale prices. It may take a little bit longer to sell and prices are down somewhat on many homes, but homes are still selling and prices are still relatively high. As one of my sellers recently calculated, the amount they have made per MONTH since buying their home is almost unbelievable even though they missed selling at the peak. They were happy to sell a bit lower and pocket that significant tax-free gain!
We will have to see what happens this Spring-which seems to be starting early. In January 2024 we saw:
-sales were UP 38.5% from January 2023 (a very significant increase year over year!!!)
-sales were still 20.2% BELOW the 10-year seasonal average. However this is an improvement from last month where they were 36.4% below the 10-year seasonal average.
-the number of homes listed for sale last month was UP 14.5% when compared with January 2023
-the number of homes newly listed for sale was 9.1% BELOW the 10-year average
-detached home sales were UP 28% from January 2023
-the benchmark price for detached homes was UP 7.3% when compared to January 2023; however prices were again DOWN (by 1.1%) when compared to a month earlier, December 2023. The benchmark price has been dropping each month for 5 months
-the sales to listing ratio overall for all types of homes was 17.2%; for detached homes the ratio is 11.9%. Prices trend downward when the ratio is around 12%. We can see from the past months' data as well as from January, that detached homes seem to be experiencing the brunt of the market adjustment. As mentioned above we remain in a buyers' market for detached homes; balanced for townhomes and condos.
These numbers don't tell the whole story and we don't really have enough information to determine what to expect this Spring; however the groundhog did NOT see his shadow and we are likely to see an early spring market as well as an early Spring.
If you are curious about the value of your home, please contact me anytime for a FREE HOME EVALUATION. If you are planning the long game and would like to know what you should be doing over time to get your home ready, I am happy to come by and discuss your best value add improvements. And of course I am always happy to discuss the market!