January Recap

As I expected, January sales activity in Centre Wellington & area was low; to be honest, maybe even slighty lower than anticipated. A bit of a cold snap mid-month didn’t help (yes, weather can affect real estate sales).

Having said that, we handled a lot more seller and buyer inquiries last month, and viewing activity definitely picked up over December. This activity just hasn’t translated into many sales yet. Mortgage brokers were also much busier with pre-approvals in January.

So, despite low sales activity in January, there are lots of signs that sellers and buyers are seriously considering entering the market shortly.

One important stat that I am tracking closely is inventory levels. There are 60% more homes for sale compared to the same time period last year; if new listings start to significantly outpace sales, pricing will be negatively impacted.

Interest Rates

Based on economic numbers released in January, inflation remains very sticky, and the inflation rate actually ticked up a bit. For those predicting a Bank of Canada rate cut earlier in the year, the probability of this happening has certainly decreased.

However, consensus is rates will still go down in 2024, just not as soon as some had predicted. Not great news for those with mortgages coming up for renewal early this year. But keep in mind long-term rates have started coming down. And most importantly, rates aren’t going up.

For those with mortgages renewing soon, talk to your mortgage broker/lender for the best renewal strategy for you.

New Realtor Rules

More realtor rules came into effect in January. Over the past few years, you will have noticed a lot of COMING SOON signs on properties. Sometimes they were there for weeks. Sometimes after a week or so they magically went from coming soon to sold without hitting the open market (a pet peeve of mine that I have commented on in past articles).

As of now, a coming soon sign can only be on a property for 3 days – and then the property must be listed on realtor.ca for all to see.

Also, if a realtor advertises a specific property online (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, etc.), it has to be listed on realtor.ca within 3 days of this ad. In the past, some realtors were using a coming soon campaign to bring a buyer on their own.

And as I commented in the past, in most cases this is not in the best interest of the seller. Exposing your listing to the open market will get the seller the best result.

Other rules announced earlier in December require your realtor to provide and explain a new multi-page information guide. Make sure your realtor does this before getting you to sign any seller or buyer related agreements.

Estates & Probate

In my business, I deal with a lot of estates. As part of settling an estate/probate, your lawyer will often require that you get a valuation for any real estate.

For properties in the Centre Wellington area, I will provide a comprehensive valuation with comparables for your lawyer, at NO COST to you – and absolutely no obligation.

Feel free to reach out anytime at 519-766-3716 if you require this service.

Until next month…

George