What a time it has been for the real estate market lately! If you’re a homeowner considering selling, you may feel as if you’ve been hit with a non-stop barrage of conflicting information. Is it a good time for sellers, or is it better to hold off until things stabilize a little more? The advice seems to change on a daily basis. 

The most common tendency is to hesitate during uncertain times. It feels like a good idea to sit back and wait to see if prices will rise before listing their homes for sale. This might be an acceptable path if you’re flexible with your timeline. But what happens if you have concrete plans that are time sensitive and depend on the sale of your house? Being at the mercy of an uncertain market is the last thing you want. 

Luckily, every condition under the sun offers opportunities even when it appears that the market and the economy are plotting against you. In this post, we’ll take a look at the different scenarios that might make you hesitate to list your home and how you can make the most of any situation.

High Inventory With Few Buyers in the Market

In this case, there are “For Sale” signs everywhere you look. But unfortunately, few people are interested in searching for a new home, which can be a very stressful situation as a seller. This scenario can happen when severe economic uncertainty hits and causes many people to freeze in their tracks. Hesitation from both buyers and sellers is normal. Plans go on the back burner as market activity slows to a crawl. Will we ever see conditions like this again?

With the growing population in Canada, especially the GTA, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon. However, if it does, there are still opportunities for sellers. You may see fewer buyers in the market, but those who are searching are highly motivated and very serious about finding a new home. Expert guidance and a strategic marketing plan will help you target the right pool of potential buyers for your home. And once you accept an offer, then you are in a very advantageous situation. Now it’s your turn to be a buyer where there are nearly unlimited options, almost no competition and low prices.

Who knew selling a house could involve so many choices? The posts below will help you stay on the right path:

• Should You Sell Your House or Rent It?
• Worth It or Not? What Renovations Really Help When Selling Your Home
• Should You Use the Same Agent to Sell and Buy a House?

High Inventory – High Buyer Activity

In this scenario, the market is bustling with plenty of houses for sale and enough buyers to snap them all up. Also called a “balanced market,” it offers plenty of opportunities for sellers who know how to make their homes stand out and appeal to buyers. Again, we might not see a scenario like this for some time due to the rising demand for housing in Canada. It is a great time to sell a house when it happens. However, some people may still hesitate to list in the hopes that conditions will swing even more in their favour. 

Low Inventory With Few Buyers

Now we come to one of the most challenging markets for both sellers and buyers. In this case, very few listings are available. But oddly enough, there are also very few people searching. For sellers, it’s difficult because there are not enough buyers. And there are not enough listings for the few buyers who are in the market!

This exact scenario happened not long ago in 2022, on the heels of one of the busiest seller’s markets the nation had ever seen. The Bank of Canada began hiking interest rates and buyers left the market in droves. Homes that previously took days to sell began sitting on the market for weeks. Gone were the multiple offers and bidding wars. The few buyers that remained suddenly found themselves with more options and more bargaining power than they had for a long time. Suddenly, it was the sellers’ turn to worry about what might happen. Many people decided to hold off on listing their homes to see if prices would rise again.

However, plenty of opportunities remained for savvy homeowners to capitalize on the changing market. It all begins with research and understanding your competition. Some people couldn’t accept that the value of their home had decreased. As a result, they set their prices too high for the market. 

Homeowners who worked with an experienced real estate agent priced their homes competitively and sold quickly, sometimes with multiple offers. And while they may not have earned quite as much as they would have earlier, they still saw the silver lining. 

With their own home sold, they could reenter the market as a buyer where prices were down substantially. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!

Listing During Low Inventory With Intense Buyer Competition

Now we come to the most ideal conditions you could ever ask for as a seller–when multiple buyers frantically compete over very few listings. This is common in a busy market, but it can also happen when sales activity is slow overall. Listing during low inventory and high competition often results in receiving multiple offers for your home, which could result in a higher sale price. 

Would anyone hesitate in what seems to be such an advantageous situation? The market leans heavily in your favour, but there are still challenges to be aware of. First and foremost, you will have to find a place to live very quickly after your house sells. When selling is easy and buying is difficult, you might decide to secure your next home before listing your existing property.

When you have knowledge and expert guidance on your side, you don’t have to worry about what the market is doing. The posts below will help:

• What Everyone Needs to Know About Selling Their First Home
• Our Full-Service Real Estate Team’s Guide to Marketing Your Home
• Fact Vs Fiction About Working With A Real Estate Agent

The Perfect Time to List Your Home

On paper, a market with few listings and a ton of demand is the perfect time to list your home. However, it’s better to act when the time is right for you rather than basing your decision on anything the market is doing. Prices rise, prices fall. There are advantages and disadvantages in every situation. And sometimes, it’s best to zig when everyone else zags. One seller’s hesitation just might become your golden opportunity!

Expert guidance and up-to-date information are the keys to a successful sale, no matter what the market does. For more information, contact our offices today or reach out at 905-332-9223. We are happy to answer all of your questions!