The Toronto Real Estate Market is Sorting Itself Out

Everyone wants to know if the Toronto market is crashing. It has been the most common question we have received since we started trading in real estate in Toronto back in 2011. Here is the answer: No. But it is not running, either. What we are seeing is a clear separation. Properties priced correctly are selling, while those priced with hope are sitting. Today more than ever, buyers are not blind. They are patient, and they are paying attention.

Is this a bad market? The answer is no, again. We know what a bad market looks like, and this is not it. It is one where no transactions are happening, no matter what. In our opinion, this is a disciplined market. Buyers are not panicking, not rushing, and not paying for overpriced properties. It is also a market where sellers need to be reminded that there are real forces affecting the sale of their property, and that there is no single approach that gets it done, but a combination of them.

Buyers are measured, and if needed, they will walk away. Sellers need to listen. This is a shift from previous years, when emotion drove offers well over asking on almost anything. Back then, the question was not whether a property would sell, but how much over asking it would go for. We are not in that market anymore, and we have not been in it for some time now.

If you are thinking about selling this spring, this is the environment where preparation, pricing, negotiation skills and presentation are everything. We see it on every single listing we take. The sellers who trusted the process sold fast, while the ones who pushed the price are still waiting.