2023 is now a closed chapter in Real Estate history books. It was quite the year. If we ponder where we were a year ago, homes selling with conditions returned, the average home in Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington sold for asking price and in January, 260 homes in total sold.
Detached homes in Oshawa started the year off selling for $841,000 and by the end of the year the average was $791,000. Whitby went from $1,182,000 to $1,091,000 and Clarington started at $813,000 and finished at $858,000.
The prices have stabilized and there is some sense of normalcy returning to the market with lower selling prices offset by higher borrowing costs. The question that continues to come up is, “Is now an opportunity for Buyers?” I believe it is and here is my reasoning.
It was identified in a task for affordability in 2022 that Canada needed 1.2 million living units to average the number of units in all other G7 countries. “Housing crisis” was a term used to describe the Real Estate market. Since then, Canada has grown by over 1.5 million people due to immigration, refugees and international students. The housing crisis has become more extreme, and in the end, all of these new residents need a roof over their heads. This has added to rents skyrocketing.
The hesitancy of Buyers is not just a result of increased mortgage rates, it is due mostly to the uncertainty of the market. When a Buyer is sitting and watching the market, considering the purchase of a property, they want to know that their investment will be secure and will grow over time. Since spring 2022 we have seen values slip which causes unease, not only in Buyers, but also in Sellers who tend to wait for prices to rise again. We currently are seeing “fence sitting” by both Buyers and Sellers, adding to low inventory, longer market times and prices remaining flat.
My experience tells me that flat markets like the one we have rarely last long.
I remember being on a flight to Phoenix in 2012 and everyone around me on the plane were heading down to Arizona to pick up bargains with property values dropping. That opportunity was over within a year. To understand where we are headed, a quick check in local media will have articles about rates dropping in late spring. Inflation is down, rates are coming down and confidence is returning. These positive steps will cause the Buyers to step off their fences and secure homes at prices we may never see again. There is a saying, “no one rings a bell at the bottom” and I feel we have already seen the bottom.
December tends to be a slower month, however, in the last 2 weeks of the year from Whitby to Clarington, we saw 152 homes in total sell, with over 10% of all sales taking place over $1 million dollars. Buyers have an opportunity to buy and if they can get in at the beginning of the flurry of activity, they will be thousands of dollars ahead of those who wait. It is opportunity time here in Durham Region.
Lindsay Smith is with Keller Williams Energy and has been a Durham Real Estate Broker for 37 years. He can be reached at lindsay@buyselllove.ca Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.