AYN Advice

So Where is the Market Going?

We hear several news bits about the real estate market in general, so what about our market?

The best way to know about your own market is to call us and find out exactly what is going on. Often, national or large regional markets are publicized with no connection to the reality of a specific sub-market. Although prices may be rapidly increasing in to say the Boisbriand market, another market may have fallen drastically but we read or hear the average for the Greater Montreal region.

In Hudson, prices are up by 5.5% but actual sales are down by 13% and in St. Lazare prices are up by 12% but actual volume is down by 20% and there are more houses on the market this year. A very different picture from the regional and national averages and even areas with in St. Lazare vary so this is why it is important to really look at the facts.

So why are prices going up and number of sales dropping? That is a very good question and not one that is all that easy to answer, but here are a two reasons.

1. Homes that do sell have been maintained or are new(er) and older less updated homes are sitting on the market longer and longer.
2. We have seen the buyer profile change over the last few years with more money to pay for a “ready to move in” home and less time to fix up what the current owner has not taken care of.

With all the new shows about advertising and staging, those vendors willing to put in the effort are rewarded for they work . Again buyers don’t have the time and are willing to pay top dollar for the home that “has it all”.