By Michael McCann
This past January has been one the craziest January’s I have ever experienced for buying a home.
Every time my buyers saw a house that was perfect for them, we ended up in multiple offers – being one of five offers or one of eight – you’d think it was a hot spring market.
Just to get an idea of our Toronto East housing market, the other night a detached bungalow on Coxwell attracted twenty-four offers and sold $145,000 over list price. It was an insane night!
But don’t think this is the norm, as I have also seen houses languish for weeks and then take a beating on price. This loss was mostly attributed to sellers having an over evaluated listing price.
Keep an eye on the stats
In our January statistics there are two numbers which scream at me. The average days on market in Birchcliff was 18 days and the longest was 68 days.
This is simple. If your home as not sold within 30 to 35 days there’s a serious issue! It’s most likely price, your house does not show well or you are not connecting with your buyer demographics.
Now, if you don’t take any action you will face the second scarier number – selling for 87% of asking price. This is money out of your pocket. My advice is always be on top of your numbers or ignore them and accept the fate of the market.
As I mentioned in last month’s article, I am working with my sellers to go on the market in late February and early March in order to leverage the acute shortage of housing inventory across Toronto and in Birchcliff as well.
Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in January 2014 – 15 homes sold
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board. Excludes commercial properties, condos and vacant land.
Birchcliff/Cliffside
- January 2013 we had 14 homes sold while January of this year 15 homes changed hands – statistically a tie.
- January of 2013 the average sold price was $434,939 while January 2014 the average sold price came in at $497,773 – an increase of 14.5%
- January 2013 it took on average 18 days and in January 2014 it took the same 18 days as well.
Toronto Real Estate Board
- 4,229 sales in January 2013 with January 2014 showing 4,135 sales – down 2.2%
- $482,080 average selling price January 2013 with January 2014 coming in at $526,528 – up by 9.2%
- January 2013 it took an average of 37 days to sell a home where January of this year 36 days – down. 2.7%
For a look at local real estate prices over the last six months, click on the tabs.
[tabs slidertype=”top tabs”] [tabcontainer] [tabtext]December[/tabtext] [tabtext]November[/tabtext] [tabtext]October[/tabtext] [tabtext]September[/tabtext] [tabtext]August[/tabtext] [tabtext]July[/tabtext] [/tabcontainer] [tabcontent] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in December 2013 – 17 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in November 2013 – 30 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in October 2013 – 32 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in September 2013 – 28 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in August 2013 – 28 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in July 2013 – 25 homes sold [/tab] [/tabcontent] [/tabs]
According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, our local housing market is defined as Birch Cliff/Cliffside and the boundaries can be seen below.
View Birch Cliff / Cliffside in a larger map
