Think back to September 2020…. Lockdowns, masks, hand sanitizers, restaurants doing take out and delivery with no indoor dining. It was a crazy time and thank goodness we are past the restrictions and the fear of the pandemic.
Another crazy part of the pandemic is what happened to Real Estate in Durham region over the past 24 months. When our first lockdown happened, in March/20 Real Estate literally took a pause. The market went flat, with Buyers and Sellers distracted and the fear of spreading the virus caused most to sit on the sidelines. This pause lasted until June/20 when surprisingly, Buyers started to buy. And buy homes they did. By September/20 home prices in Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington jumped by a staggering 12%! This was just the beginning of the biggest run up in prices I have seen in 37 years selling homes locally.
From Sept/20 to Sept/21 home prices jumped 40%! This came to a “pause” in Feb/22 when the mortgage rates started to climb, causing Buyers and Sellers to act in a similar way as they did at the beginning of the pandemic. In Real Estate uncertainty causes people to watch and not act. However, and this is a big however, the values have jumped so high that even with the slide we have seen in home values since February, our prices are still high. If you compare detached homes Sept/20 to Sept/22 you will see how good things are for homeowners:
Sept/20 Sept/22
Oshawa $677,000 $881,000 + $204,000
Whitby $872,000 $1,152,000 +$280,000
Clarington $764,000 $926,000 +$162,000
No question the values have dropped over the past 7 months, but year over year we are doing amazingly well. Other factors that have changed are the number of bidding contests we are seeing in the marketplace. If you look at semi-detached homes in Oshawa, in February/22 the average semi-detached home was selling for 44% over the asking price. A quick check shows that last month, the average semi-detached sold for 4% over the asking price. This means Buyers can make better decisions and that they have a chance of buying including finance and home inspection conditions.
The other significant change is when the values slip, the down payments become smaller and easier for Buyers to raise. With a 10% down payment, a Buyer today in Whitby would need $$110,000 and back in February that same 10% down payment would have been $140,000!
I get the feeling, at least my intuition has me feeling that the market is still in a “pause” state, meaning that people are fence-sitting watching what is going to happen. The smart Buyers bought in July when prices in Oshawa were on average $66,000 less. (Whitby detached homes were $52,000 less and Clarington $18,000 less in July/22)
Warren Buffett is quoted as saying, “Don’t pass on something that’s attractive today because you think you will find something better tomorrow.” If you are a Buyer, now is the time to buy. If you are a Seller, the only security we have is today, if you are wanting to move, make it happen today, we never know what tomorrow will bring.
If you are ready for a move, I can be reached at 905-743-5555 or lindsay@buyselllove.ca
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