There have been some recent cases of buyers defaulting on their home purchases long after all the conditions have been met. This is still extremely rare in Ottawa but lawyers are seeing more of it.
This can be attributed to the markets in some major cities cooling off in-between when a buyer bought and when they close on the property. Basically, they buy in the hot early Spring market and by the time they are supposed to close on the property in August they paid well over market value by the time their closing date comes around a few months later. If this happens what can you do?
DEPOSIT: Buyers would surely lose their deposit. However, these funds are held in a trust account and cannot be released without an agreement between buyer and seller or a court order. Almost always the buyer will lose this deposit should they decide not to close. The challenge in Ottawa is that the deposits have been historically low compared with other cities.
LEGAL OBLIGATION: First off, this is one of the reasons I (and my assistant) are such sticklers for paperwork. We don’t want to give the buyer any chance to get out of the deal on small technicalities. We make sure all aspects of the legal requirements of any offer are met. Buyers do have a legal obligation to close on the property.
LEGAL COUNSEL: Should you find yourself in this precarious position my advice is to seek legal advice immediately. In some cases the lawyers can figure out a settlement that works for all parties and the house is put back on the market. If this is not the case then you would put the house back on the market after the buyers breach the agreement and you pursue damages in court.
LIKELY OUTCOME: There has been some precedent setting cases in Canada that a judge would rely on in their decision. Based on these cases it would be reasonable to assume the judge would rule in favour of the seller. A likely compensation being some of the extra moving costs, carrying costs, legal fees, and also potentially the difference in sale price if the seller received less money when they went back to the market. Quick example for you. In one case a buyer walked away from a 1.26 M purchase in Vancouver. The seller later sold to another buyer for $350,000 less. The judged ruled the original buyer who walked from their deal would be responsible to make up the difference. In short, it will cost the buyer if they walk away from their contractual obligations.
The Fall season is almost upon us. The kids are getting settled into school and everyone is getting back into a routine. Our little man Aiden just had his first day of school. It was pretty hard seeing him board his school bus for the first time! Kids grow up quick.
The Ottawa housing market results are in and the numbers for August are very positive. Our average price for a residential class property was up 7.6% over last August. We are sitting at $420,355. We are up over 7% YTD. Incredible numbers really considering most economists predicted the opposite.
The Ottawa condo market was busy. The prices were down slightly by less than half a percent. The average price of an Ottawa condo was $270,768. Where I see strength is in the units sold. We are up 22% over last years numbers. This has really been a nice turnaround for condos this year.
This fall season will continue to be very active for Ottawa buyers and sellers. There are still many buyers in the marketplace who were unable to secure their home in the Spring/Summer due to increased competition and tight supply. I expect this trend to continue for at least the next 90 days. If you have any questions on the market please let me know.
The real estate market in Ottawa is often a very competitive place to purchase real estate. When a house is listed that shows well and is priced aggressively it will often attract more than one buyer. This creates a multiple bid situation. I have been in this situation too many times to count. Twice in the last week! In many of the cases, my clients are the ones who end up securing the house. I want to share with you a few tips that help make this happen.
Firstly, I think getting the right Realtor® working for you will be the most important step. Someone who can be a guide through this complicated process. A thorough review of the market is also very important. Often times multiple bids are created because a house is under-valued as compared with other listings that have sold in the area. This means that even though a buyer might pay more than list price for a home they are not necessarily paying over market value.
Price is often the most important factor in an offer, but not always. For most people, there is a human element in selling their house. I like to present my offers directly to the seller in multiple bids. Basically, tell them how wonderful my clients are-which is usually true! I have had sellers more than once choose my clients’ offer that was less money. One time over $3000 less!
Conditions also play a factor. Having too many conditions or long timelines can make an offer less attractive. In some cases, If the house is perfect then I suggest a pre-offer inspection. This way we can put forward a firm offer when the bid time comes. This will strengthen the offer considerably.
Multiple bids will always be a part of the home buying process. You might win some or lose some. Just remember things always have a way of working out in the end. If it is meant to be it will be!
Ottawa’s market has been thriving for the first half of 2017. Month over month we are seeing an increase in units sold and average sale prices increasing from last year. Compared to last year at this time, Ottawa homes sales units in both residential and condos property classes are up 13.5%. The average residential sale price for June 2017 was $434,502 up 8.8% from last year’s June and the average condo sale price for June 2017 was $289,950 up 9.4% over last year’s June. The number of Condo units sold per month continues to stay strong with an increase of 23.3% compared to last year’s June. This is the 5th year in a row the number of units sold both residential and condo properties have increased in June. The demand is still high right now in certain neighbourhoods. I predict that in the second half of the year we will continue to see record-setting prices for units sold and average price.
Last week MoneySense magazine announced the best place to live in Canada. No surprise to me that Ottawa reigns as number #1. Back to back champs!
Based on employment rate, household income, health, weather, crime rate, transit and much more Ottawa has been ranked the best place to live in Canada 2017. Ottawa is not the boring government town we have been labelled as in the past. Honestly, I’ve never felt that way about Ottawa myself. There is so much culture here and frankly being the best city in the best country is pretty good. Real estate is also reasonably affordable if you consider just how good we have it to live here.
With the new successful development of the Landsdown Park and our Grey Cup Champions Ottawa Redblacks, it is has brought lots of new fun and excitement back to the city. This year with the Ottawa Senators making it to the NHL semi-finals the cities energy was at an all-time high.
Ottawa has something to offer everyone each weekend. Events we love such as Bluesfest, Winterlude, Busker Festival, Tulip Festival or yoga on the hill and skating on the canal, how could we ever be called boring? On top of that, only 20 min outside of the city is skiing, hiking, and beautiful cottage country. We love our city and we are not surprised to be ranked #1 two years in a row. #WeLoveOurCity #ProudOttawarian
It was raining sales in the Ottawa real estate market last month. Amid one of the rainiest months ever, we also experienced the busiest real estate market in Ottawa history. We absolutely shattered the previous record by over 315 units. The Ottawa residential market has been hot for a while now but the condo market is also coming alive which is leading to this extremely active market. Condos sales activity is up 44.6% over May of last year. In total 2300 units were sold last month! That is up from 1919 units sold in May of 2016. This includes both condos and residential freeholds.
In most neighbourhoods, Ottawa is in a seller’s market. There is just not much inventory and lots of demand. Multiple offer situations are very prevalent in the central neighbourhoods. Freehold prices are up 7.4% over May of 2016 while Condo’s are up 2.4% over May of last year.
Now more than ever it is important to get the advice of an agent. Pricing/marketing strategies are different for every neighbourhood. If you are interested to see what your home would sell for in this market please feel free to get in touch.
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The balanced market of the past few years has seemed to evaporate overnight. The market is extremely competitive right now in Ottawa. A shortage of good inventory and favorable demand has shifted the balance towards the sellers. Bidding wars are once again a common practice here in Ottawa. The exception this year is that some of the bidding wars are escalating high above the listing prices. In one instance I witnessed a home sell for 100k more than a sellers list price. It started in March and was mostly contained to the central urban market. Neighbourhoods like Hintonburg and Westoboro are especially hot. That heat has extended to the suburban market, It is not as active but in some segments of the market, every well-priced home is in multiples. As an example, it took my clients 5 offers to secure a Kanata townhouse. They were over asking on all 4 of the previous bids. Every neighbourhood has different trends. Much it will depend on the available inventory in each area. Comes back to simple economics sometimes. Low supply + high demand = Craziness in the Ottawa market.
Let’s examine the April resale numbers for the Ottawa market:
This upwards push is fuelled by a combination of high consumer confidence and good local economic conditions. Houses sold over 1M doubled this April compared to last year. There were over 83 properties sold in the 7 digits! This is an interesting trend to keep an eye on. If you have questions about your neighbourhood trends feel free to get in touch.
The Ottawa Real Estate market is heating up. Price gains for both residential and condo units are up 5.3% year over year. The average sale price of a residential property was $415,467 and $272,597 for condos. Sales are up 28% over last year and we are just shy of the all-time record for March sales.
The core of the city is as active as I have seen it in years. There are limited inventory and lots of demand. This has created many situations where sellers are getting much more than asking price. In one instance I witnessed a home sell for 100k over asking price. It is a challenging market for buyers right now. Especially in the areas around Wellington village and Hintonburg. These areas are experiencing multiple bids on almost every house!
In the suburbs, the economics are more balanced. There is a reasonable amount of inventory and multiple bid situations are rarer. However, it is more active than in years past. It is going to make for a very interesting Spring market. The traditional busy season is still yet to be upon us.
The market has different patterns depending on your neighbourhood and category of home. If you are interested to know what’s happening in your neighbourhood, feel free to get in touch.
