Tips for Marketing Your Home in Our Changing Market

Housing sales are down 40% in July 2017 from July 2016, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. While this is true, without context it can paint a very concerning picture. For those who are thinking of selling their property and wish they had done so before the change in the market, do not be too concerned.

To put your mind at ease I would refer you to an article in my last newsletter entitled, “The State of the Real Estate Market in 2017”. You can also find this article on my website blog at www.nancampion.com. The article explains the stats that have been quoted in the newspapers as well as those from TREB and explains the changes in the market. There you will see that the spring market started earlier and slowed earlier this year. The result of this was that although July sales are indeed down by 40% year over year, overall spring sales were down by much less as more sales occurred in the early months of 2017. In fact, they are only down 24%, and when we consider that 2016 saw the highest ever sales volume in the Toronto real estate market, the 2017 numbers actually seem quite healthy.

In this article you will also see why there are more listings on the market and why the buyers are being more hesitant to step forward.

For those of you who are planning to sell in the near future, here are four recommendations that I think will be of help in our current market.

1) Price your property at or very near to its true value. Underpricing your house in the hope that it will generate a bidding war can be dangerous in this market. Buyers tend to be much more cautious now and you may see no offers at all or offers that don’t reflect what your property is truly worth.

2) Do not necessarily expect your house to sell within a week. We are back to a market which is more balanced. This means that because buyers have more houses to choose from, it can take a little longer to attract the right purchaser to your property.

3) Be realistic when pricing your home. Price it for what similar properties to yours have sold for in the past month or so.

4) When you receive an offer, even if it is not quite what you were looking for, do not reject it out of hand. Even if a buyer comes in lower than you would like to see, signing it back and asking your agent and the buyer’s agent to communicate between you and the buyer could well bring the offer up to what you hoped for, or very close to.

SUMMARY:

All in all this is still a great time to sell. Plenty of buyers are still out there and prices are still up year over year. It is just a different way of doing business.

If you want more guidance in negotiating through this changing market, feel free to call. Over the years I have had experience in “ booms, busts” and everything in between. I would be happy to guide you through 2017.