Forget the ‘crisis’ talk – current market is just normal, says veteran broker
“To me, this is a fairly normal market,” he said. “Obviously, it’s geographical – there are hotspots. I know North Bay is still fairly hot as far as purchases, and there are some multiple offers going on up there, and the same in some of the northern areas like Huntsville.
“The GTA, not so much. Properties are on the market for a little longer, they’re selling for a little bit less. I think the prices have come back probably where they should be – I don’t think people are overpaying anymore like they were.”
Are comparisons to the pandemic housing boom unhelpful?
For Trafford, much of the gloom around the housing market stems from comparisons to the unsustainable pandemic boom rather than what’s actually happening now.
“Last year, that was the whole talk – sales are down 20%, sales are down 15%, sales are down 25%,” he said. “You’re not getting that much anymore. Now you’re seeing sales up a little bit based on last year or down a little bit, but that is normal.
“It’s very normal for a market to be up or down 5% or 10% year over year on any given month. There’s nothing that says ‘We’re on the verge of having a hot market,’ or ‘We’re on the verge of a collapsing market.’”
