~ringpop~ house question

rxbeth · January 2011

I was just wondering if your experience is just a GTA thing.

Houses down here rarely go on the market and are bought up that quickly, let alone with multiple offers. We had our house up last year, quite a few showings, but not a single offer. I have seen the same houses up for MONTHS (even up to a year). Maybe it has to do with the crappy economy and the fact that we have the highest unemployment rate in Canada here. Thoughts?

ring_pop · January 2011

Good question!

Toronto's real estate market is interesting. A lot of the city is undergoing gentrification - nice new condos and townhouses are being built amid older neighbourhoods. It's these new developments that are going really quickly - people are hoping to get good value in a neighbourhood while it's still in the process of revival. Land value almost anywhere in the city of Toronto, as you can imagine, is generally very high. Because the commute to the core of the city is so long, I believe that a lot of younger families like us have started to decide to trade off space for time.

We also toured a number of older fixer-uppers, which we realized we don't have the time or inclination to work on. A lot of people also take the older homes, fix them up, and flip them. I was also open to buying one of these houses, but the ones that we could afford all had something wrong with them. The more expensive, nicer ones do go quickly if the price is right.

We are hoping that our condo sells quickly because it's really in a prime location, and is also one of the older buildings among more snazzy, expensive condos.

I can't comment much on the economy and unemployment rate though I'm sure it has an effect on the housing market.

Does that make sens?

rxbeth · January 2011

Sorry - I took off to do some on-line continuing education

I guess that makes sense. Due to the nature of the city, it is a Toronto thing. There is one house I'm interested in that has been on the market for a year now. It's dropped from $215,000 (I think)to $194,000. I went to see it at an open house when it was at the higher end and right when I left my full time job and I did really like it.

I just can't imagine seeing a house and putting an offer in THAT night.

ring_pop · January 2011

Yeah we moved quickly after learning from the last one! All of the units in this particular complex have been snapped up really quickly. I think that they are some of the most well-priced properties in the city right now.

The listing only went up yesterday. As soon as it popped up, we decided to go, during a snowstorm, in the hopes of beating people here. We made the offer expire at 6:00 with the intention of trying to beat out anyone who may have viewed it this afternoon and were considering putting in an offer. Crazy!

kaesha · January 2011

The snap buy seems pretty typical of the market here. Even places that have been on the market for months don't drop their prices. There's a place 'round the corner from me, a total DIVE that's up for 900,000$. They've been on the market since... last April? They still haven't dropped their price. It's crazy.

~ringpop~ house question

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