Buyers market in northeast through seven months of 2019

“Our sales are still down compared to most years,” Rogers said. “Quite a bit, actually in the last ten years. We’ve been lower than the last ten years sales activity. But when a house is priced right and a put on the market at a proper price, then there’s buyers out there who are really active.”

According to Rogers, there have been 40 transactions completed in Melfort by all of the offices. There are 90 new listings, and that is up 34 per cent from 2018. Homes are also staying on the market for almost 98 days on average, but Rogers said there are still properties that are selling right away.

“If a price of a property is listed at what today’s market value is, it will sell really quick,” she said. “If it’s listed at a market value of 2016, it’s not going to sell very quick, so it lags on.”

The months of inventory is a way brokerages check to see how many homes they have on the market, and based on the average days on market, how long would it take for them to sell out of homes. Currently, Rogers said that number is around 9.7 months. The ideal number is around five to seven months of inventory.

Rogers added that there is lots of opportunity for buyers on the market right now.

Tisdale

With Tisdale being very close to Melfort, there is definitely some overlap, but there are also plenty of differences. Brendan Samida is the broker for Century 21 Proven Realty and said with it being a buyers market, the sellers have to work.

“There’s a lot of competition out there,” he said. “You have to be aggressively pursuing the buyer, and you’ve got to do the small things. It does need that new coat of paint, it all needs nice neat and tidy.”

Samida said their sales volumes are down 16 per cent from 2018, but the average price is up a little bit from $171,000 to $173,000. He said things have changed in the market over the years. Nowadays, people are wanting to buy a house and not have to fix up anything. Previously, a house that needed some work was good for buyers.

“Life has gotten busy for people,” Samida told northeastNOW. “The time is not there for them.”

While sales volume is a bit down for his Tisdale brokerage, their volume is remaining the same at between 50 to 60 listings. However, things are staying on the market for about 114 days on average.

Humboldt

Just south, Humboldt is also in a buyers market right now, but things are busy for Century 21 Diamond Realty in the area. Dan Torwalt is the broker there and said things haven’t really slowed down this year.

“Our office is as busy as we’ve ever been,” he said.

“We’ve had situations where we’ve had multiple offers on houses.” _{-Dan Torwalt}

Torwalt’s office is currently ranked second in the area, and is above average when it comes to numbers where they usually are. Their sales volume is around the $20 million mark right now, and between lists and sales, they’ve had about 125 transactions. Torwalt said their has been a shift to the buyers side of the market.

“When you price your house right, or get it in that price range where the buyers are willing to pay, then stuff happens,” Torwalt told northeastNOW. “And I think it’s been a little bit of a learning curve for the market, especially the sellers to understand that the glory days of four, five, six, seven years ago aren’t there, and I don’t know if they’ll come back again to that for a while unless something big happens in this area.”

Torwalt said things normally slow down a little bit in August, but he expects it to ramp back up before snow hits the ground.

“It’s been a strong spring and summer here,” he said. “And I don’t see any reason why we won’t have a strong fall to finish off the year.”

Advice

If you’re someone who is looking to buy a house, or even sell each broker has some advice.

Rogers said as a buyer, with prices softer, it’s a great time to buy. She said they should get pre-approved for a mortgage, and then get working with a realtor of their choice.

“If you’re selling right now, I think the most important thing I can urge right now is to please price it properly,” Rogers said.

She said once it’s priced right, the sales will come.

Samida said for those looking to buy or sell, explore the marketplace and find an agent that is right for you. He said you should set the market when selling, not follow it.

“You definitely want to sit with your realtor and you want to go through the market analysis,” Samida said. “And you want to price aggressively.”

He added that if you’re selling, do the economic things to get the value up, like paint, or baseboards, but maybe something like windows wouldn’t be the right fix.

Torwalt said one of the biggest thing for someone to do when they are buying is to get pre-approved. He said it’s a tough thing when someone is not pre-approved and they aren’t able to afford the house they want. Torwalt also added that getting a Realtor is key.

“We always say go with a professional, go with a real estate agent,” he said. “Sometimes you think you can get a better deal by going to the ‘For Sale by Owners’, but there’s a lot of liabilities right now with buying and it’s a big purchase, and one of your only purchases you’re going to do.”

He said agents have done it before and they have to tell their clients everything.

*Statistics as of July 31, 2019*

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6

by Mat Barrett

Buyers market in northeast through seven months of 2019

Melfort

Tisdale

Humboldt

Advice

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