Sellers Are Returning to the Housing Market - August 20, 2020
Ian Walterhouse
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Sellers Are Returning to the Housing Market
In today’s housing market, it can be a big challenge for buyers to find homes to purchase, as the number of houses for sale is far below the current demand. Now, however, we’re seeing sellers slowly starting to come back into the market, a bright spark for potential buyers.
Lisa Patel,Toronto Regional Real Estate Board President, explains that seller confidence has been improving gradually after reaching its bottom in mid-April, and now it appears to have reached an important recovery milestone. She confirmed that there is
“evidence the home market is tightening with buyers competing as homes are being sold faster than new listings are added to the market.” Lisa Patel - Toronto Real Estate Board President
Even with the number of homes coming into the market, the available inventory is well below where it needs to be to satisfy buyer interest.
“Competition between buyers continued to increase in many segments of the GTA ownership housing market in July, which fuelled a further acceleration in year-over-year price growth in July compared to June.” Jason Mercer - Toronto Real Estate Board’s Chief Market Analyst
Houses today are selling faster than they’re coming to market. That’s why we only have inventory for 4 months at the current sales pace when in reality we need inventory for 6 months to keep up. July statistics show that there were 17,956 homes listed in July 2020, up by 24.7% year over year compared to July 2019.But, as mentioned above, sellers are starting to return to the game. Realtor.com explains that the ‘housing supply’ component – which tracks growth of new listings has finally reached the January growth baseline.
“The big milestone in new listings growth comes as seller sentiment continues to build momentum…After constant gradual improvements since mid-April, seller confidence appears to be reaching an important milestone. The temporary boost in new listings comes as the summer season replaces the typical spring home buying season. More homes are entering the market than typical for this time of the year.” Realtor.com
Why is this good for sellers?
A good time to enter the housing market is when the competition in your area is low, meaning there are fewer sellers than interested buyers. You don’t want to wait for all of the other homeowners to list their houses before you do, providing more options for buyers to choose from. With sellers starting to get back into the market after five months of waiting, if you want to sell your house for the best possible price, now is a great time to do so.
Why is this good for buyers?
It can be challenging to find a home in today’s low-inventory environment. If more sellers are starting to put their houses up for sale, there will be more homes for you to choose from, providing a better opportunity to find the home of your dreams while taking advantage of the affordability that comes with historically low mortgage rates.
Bottom Line
While we still have a long way to go to catch up with the current demand, inventory is slowly starting to return to the market. If you’re thinking of moving this year, let’s connect today so you’re ready to make your move when the home of your dreams comes up for sale - call me at 416-522-1112 or email me at ian.walterhouse@century21.ca.
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