January 2023 Newsletter
January was a restful and insightful month for the team. We had a great chance to attend training seminars and expand our knowledge. January is a typically slow month in real estate, but despite that, the team is absolutely loving getting to know some new clients and have made great strides in helping them with all of their real estate needs.
Training
The sales team gathered over the month and participated in an in-house training on “How to Ask Better Questions.” Part of being a real estate agent is more than just finding a home for clients, but helping them express themselves in the best way possible. Lots of times, a client may be new to the world of real estate or unsure exactly what they don’t know. A great real estate agent will be able to ask questions to help them figure out exactly what they’re looking for!
Inman Connect New York
The sales team got together while our team lead, Matt, was at Inman participating as a Global Brand Ambassador. The team tuned in virtually to see everything Matt was experiencing in person and to learn as much as they could from the experience. Mitch MacKenzie tells us that the team got together to listen to some amazing speakers like Brad Inman, Jordan Cohen (the top ReMax agent in the world), Robert Reffkin (CEO of Compass), Tamir Poleg (CEO of REAL), and Ben Kinney (Co-Founder of PLACE). These speakers provided a ton of insight on the new market, tips to assist clients better, and advice on becoming even greater agents.
Congratulations Luke and John!
A huge congratulations to our agents Luke Thompson and John Haddad for their success this month! New year, new goals, and these two have really shown what it means to put the New Purveyors systems and structure to work - hard work pays off!
Real Estate News in Ottawa
Interested in hearing more from our agents about real estate? Let’s dive into some of our top blog posts this month:
Online Home Estimates
Online home estimate tools have taken the world by storm, and they can be a fun tool for buyers and sellers to get a rough idea of what homes are worth. That being said, home estimate tools can be very unreliable. They may miss recent updates to a home or news in a neighbourhood, and they definitely aren’t robust enough yet to analyze outliers in data. In our blog post, we dive into some of the ways a real estate professional can also assist you in finding a more accurate estimate of your home’s value or average prices in neighbourhoods of interest to you.
Bank of Canada Increases Interest Rate
As you’ve most likely heard by now, the Bank of Canada raised the interest rate once more. It seems to be nearing the end of interest rate hikes as inflation seems to be slowing and the wording of their most recent release also illustrates that they expect this to be one of the last, if not the last, increases.
Are foreclosures in Ottawa?
In Ontario, we actually use a system called Power of Sale. This is quicker and kinder to homeowners who may have defaulted on their mortgage, as it ensures that the lender has to sell the home at market value so that the homeowner (usually) isn’t on the hook for extra costs. That being said, Power of Sale homes are often not a great deal as they won’t be listed for less than they’re worth, and can often be found in bad condition because owners who cannot afford their homes most likely have not kept up with regular care, either.
Client Story
Luke Thompson has been working with a client for a while now who is looking to downsize to a condo. Maintaining a pool and hedges in the summer and shovelling in the winter has become more of a hassle than it is worth! One of the biggest challenges for this client is getting rid of a house full of belongings, in order to fit well in a condo. Luke has suggested a slow and steady sort through of all of the client’s items - donating, selling, and giving away items that don’t need to stay. He has also suggested a storage locker, with a key piece of advice, that sometimes once you start paying to store items, you then realize that they aren’t as valuable to you as you once thought! Decluttering before a move can be a huge task, but it also helps your home show better to potential buyers as it looks more spacious and depersonalized, two things that have been proven to help homes faster and at a better price.
Neighbourhood Monthly Statistics
In the month of January, OREB members sold 606 residential properties. This is down 35% from last January, when we sold 933. This includes 460 residential class properties and 146 condominiums, down 30% and 47% respectively. This is also significantly lower than the 5-year average of 819 sales.
The new OREB President, Ken Dekker, explains that the slowdown indicates potential home buyers are taking their time. He states he believes they are being cautious during uncertain conditions.
In terms of prices: Condo properties saw a decrease of 8% for an average of $412,244. Freehold properties saw a decrease of 12% from last January, with an average price of $676,272. However, Dekker explains this isn’t a crashing market, but instead a market that is just balancing out after the extreme prices and low rates during COVID. It is ‘levelling out’.
It’s also a good sign that prices are actually increasing from December! Up 3% month over month. Condo prices have dropped in comparison, around 5%, but those numbers are actually more volatile due to fewer condos being sold than freehold properties.
Inventory has also increased! Freehold properties are now up to 3.8 months rather than 0.9 months last January. Condos are also up to 3.8 months of inventory instead of 0.8 last January. New listings this month are sitting at 1324, 16% higher than 1142 in January 2022, and are up 899 from December 2022 when there were only 699 listings. This is also higher than the 5-year average for January, which was 1233.
Dekker explains that these figures are typical for a balanced market, a sign that buyers aren’t “racing to put in an offer.” New listings and supply illustrate to buyers that they can take time selecting a home and put in the conditions that they want in their offers.
More people are also turning to real estate agents for help with rentals, up 24% from 410 last year to 509 this year.
To learn more, check out our full blog post HERE
Pet of the Month
Meet Jack! Jack is a Welsh Terrier. He is 1 year old! He must start every day with a good face scratch, and it is very important that his pack stops on walks whenever he hears a siren. s
Jack was submitted to us by Cindy from Cindy’s Walk and Sit - for more dog photos, be sure to check out her Instagram @cindyswalkandsit.
Send us your dogs (or other animals) for the chance to be featured next month!
