Reason why homeowners are refusing to sell amid high prices

It is no longer a hidden fact that the Canadian real estate market is now a seller’s market with a scarcity in homes ,and homeowners now willing to sell. This is keeping prices high. Sellers are presently calling the shots as demand is relatively higher compared to supply. Homeowners find themselves in a stronger position to bargain prices and negotiate better deals than buyers.

This might come as good news for homeowners but for Gerry Best taking a deeper look brings more concern than joy.  Eight years ago, Best purchased his six-bedroom home in Cambridge’s South Galt area but now that his children have all moved out of the house, he wants to move to a smaller house with the hope that he will be able to get back twice the amount he bought his house for in 2009 which was $342,000.

But this might not be easy as it seems because it is currently next to impossible to find a house on the market. According to Best, he has been house hunting for months with no results.

Presently, the homes listed on the market are just a shadow of what things use to be in the past years with real estate agents raising concerns of demand being relatively higher than supply.

The lack of supply has been one of the contributing factors towards the rising home prices in the Waterloo Region. In February, home prices in Kitchener-Waterloo roe by 10% from January which is a very high growth than is normally seen in the region.

This situation is leading to the rise of a very uncommon trend. Some homes are currently being sold within days if not hours and are way above the asking prices.

There is also a change in buyer’s habits which is also unusual. Some buyers like Chris Schaus are now purchasing homes and later demolish it to develop a new structure. But that is not just it, few months after building the new homes, Chris received an offer for the home which he could not turn down. He was offered $700,000 for his home which is $200,000 more than his expenditure on the property.

But Chris is just one of the many homeowners that are receiving such outrageous offers. Antonia Nogueira, a real estate agent stated he does not see any change occurring anytime some.

Even though in the past, it was quite rewarding for sellers to reap the gains of selling, in presently, sellers do not get to enjoy the satisfaction as they are also finding it difficult to buy in the hot real estate market.

This gives justification for homeowners not to sell during hot market periods.

However the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is keeping a close eye on the real estate market across the country.

According to Ted Tesiakopoulos, the organization’s regional economist for Ontario, the increasing growth in some regions are expected to cool off by the end of the year, but outrageous offers will continue to be part of the market in Waterloo Region.