HO HO HO here comes Santa! The annual Santa Clause parade comes to town on Sunday and if that doesn’t signal the start of winter then this week’s blast of early snow sure did. Despite the early onset of snow and temperature drop there is no sign that the real estate market is slipping into hibernation yet. A shortage of listings has been the problem for most of the year but when we ask around the office if agents have buyers they are working with everyone puts their hand up. We know there are many frustrated buyers out there, but we would encourage them to all keep looking. If you are thinking of putting your buying intentions on hold you might pay the ultimate price when prices escalate in the Spring...just like they did last year.

Clearly as we see the year start to wind down freehold listings are not increasing week to week. Last week we saw an 8% drop and sales also dropped by 7%. These statistics are not uncommon when you compare to previous years. Its more a statement of the approaching winter market. Still, sentiment for home ownership remains strong as nearly 61% of sales happened at or above the list price.

The condo market on the other hand saw a 10% increase in new sales last week, but a sharp drop in sales down by 24%. Multiple offers once reaching a high of 52% of suites sold back in October has diminished to a still healthy 43% of condos selling at or above the asking price. We are still seeing heightened activity in the more price-friendly price point for first time buyers being between $400K to $700K.