Are You On Or In

As we enter a new year, hopes and expectations ride high on all sorts of things. Resolutions, better health, more positive attitude and so forth. There is also an expectation in the Real Estate world that things will improve. Justifiably so. 2024 was a brutal year for most realtors and real estate companies. Despite the rosy picture that was constantly being painted the business had returned to the darker ages for sales. Things started to turn when Tiff Macklem and the BOC started cutting interest rates. Three cuts in a row certainly helped things. Inflation finally came down to around 2%, which is what they wanted. So now all eyes are looking to the end of January when two notable things will happen. One involves the instalment of a certain president south of us and the other is the next rate announcement from the Bank of Canada. Both will have a huge impact on just where things are headed in the buy and sell of homes. Another rate cut would certainly be a push to get buyers off the sidelines and if the threatened tariffs come from the U.S. that could also push interest rates down further as the BOC tries to head off a possible inflation as a direct result of said tariffs. More will be needed than that, though. Sellers will need to realize it’s not 2019 or 2020. Buyers will not pa y the crazy prices they did during the pandemic so they could escape the confines of the big city. In other words, things are becoming a little more realistic. I did a scan of available properties in Scugog (with houses and not just vacant land) on January 1 to see what things looked like starting off the new year. Have to admit I wasn’t shocked but was somewhat surprised. Of the 50 listings I saw, the one with the longest days on market was 294 days and the one with the fewest was 2 days. The 50 listings averaged 66.16 days on market. That is the barometer to determine whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. It used to be that 1-2 months would be considered a seller’s market. All of that changed with Covid. Houses were selling in a matter of weeks or even days (hours?) No surprise here that the Buyers are now getting the leg up. Once days on market crosses that 2 month time frame it becomes more of a buyer’s market. That’s where sellers need to realize if they want to really sell their place they need to be more aggressive in pricing. You are either ON the market or IN the market. There is a huge difference there. If you think your house is worth at least, or in some cases, more than the one that sold down the street 4 years ago, well guess what. It may be, but the market just won’t support that logic. Sellers need to adjust their mindsets to what is happening today. It used to be that you could pretty much look at trends and have a good idea just where things were headed. On a yearly or in some cases a monthly basis. Not any more. Things change daily and sellers and their agents need to pivot accordingly. There has never been a more important time to be able to think on your feet and adapt to what is happening around you. Otherwise you will be left sitting there with your property ON the market. Not IN.