Ottawa real estate news, discussion and inside broker information brought to you by Gord McCormick, Broker of Record and Dawn Davey, Broker 613-435-4692 oasisrealty@rogers.com www.oasisrealtyottawa.com
Stittsville has experienced a building and population boom in recent years and is now approaching 35,000 inhabitants. Quite a leap from being “just beyond the fringe” that was a popular radio commercial tagline back when Stittsville was a quiet village removed from both urban and suburban Ottawa with a population of 3,000 or so. In fact, when combined with Kanata, the area has the largest population and number of residences in the Ottawa metro area and is the fastest growing. Stittsville is projected to have close to 60,000 residents within the next decade! So with all the new construction going on, it is no surprise that real estate has made strong gains in 2019.
This year’s residential numbers: We are using the residential resale numbers for the 3 main Stittsville MLS® zones, though October 2019.(does not include any condo sales)
Stittsville North MLS® zone 8211 for sales north of Hazeldean Rd
Stittsville Central MLS® zone 8202 for properties between Hazeldean Rd and Abbott St.
Stittsville South MLS® zone 8203 for properties south of Abbott St.
For comparison purposes, the Ottawa MLS® as a whole has recorded sales increases of 3.8% in unit sales and an average selling price increase of 8.4% for residential properties to a price of $484,891.
North Stittsville (8211) is rocking! This area closest to highway 417 has had and continues to have growth and new construction with a good variety of residential housing to cover many price points. It also offers best access for commuters who rely on the 417 for commuting purposes.
Unit sales are up a strong 20.1% this year and the average selling price is up 11.9% to $473,866
Central Stittsville (8202) sees strong price growth but inventory limits unit sales: Unit sales in Central Stittsville are actually down this year by 3.2%, perhaps reflecting the lack of listing inventory available. Still, good demand has pushed the average price in this area up 13.6% to $552,472.
South Stittsville (8203) unit sales up 7.1% and the average price sold this year is $579,098, up 8%. Most of these unit sales are resale homes and we have no visibility in to the numbers of new homes being sold in Stittsville but it is obviously significant at the present time, with most of this growth in the eastern section of Central Stittsville and in South Stittsville.
Outlook for 2020:
Expect to see continuing sales and price growth as all the fundamentals continue to look good with the local economy and the pace and range of new home construction in the area is significant and pretty compelling for a lot of homebuyers, who may also feel that they should buy now, before prices escalate any further. Those who have existing homes to sell then of course, offer that existing property for sale to co-ordinate with the new home possession date.
So it should continue to be “all systems go! For Stittsville real estate in 2020.
Motivates buyers to book a showing: Quite often we find that buyers will choose to book a showing in advance of a scheduled open house. This may be just a matter of scheduling or it could mean they want to get in early to take a look at the property and potentially get first crack at it. Getting buyers in to the property is always a worthy goal and we do believe that the scheduling of an Open House does spur other buyers to get in to see it asap.
Aggregates showings and saves seller time and trouble: Buyers will schedule a private showing at random times throughout the day and in our hot sellers’ market, this can mean a lot of private showings on a daily basis. So much so, that some sellers even vacate their properties for the first 3-5 days to allow the buyer/showing frenzy to happen without totally upsetting their lives and schedules. By scheduling an Open House, some of these buyers may choose to attend that event, rather than booking a private showing thus alleviating the need for the seller to vacate the home. (and making sure it is clean and tidy when the do)
This really works well for families with small children or pets that can spend less time tidying up for multiple showings and also removing pets.
We get feedback: When we get a chance to chat with buyers about the house or hear their comments to one another, we are getting valuable feedback for our own knowledge and for the sellers. What do the buyers really like about the property? What don’t they like? When we here the same things consistently, it helps clarify where the property and price fit in the marketplace and may help us tweak our marketing strategy for the sellers. If all buyers have a similar issue or concern then it helps us build a strategy to overcome that objection and/or discuss remedies with the seller.
We get to know our product better: Even though we may know the property quite well, the more time we spend there and the more feedback we receive-the better we fully understand the property. After all, in most cases, we may get a couple of 10-15 minute tours through the property with the owner which is certainly not enough time to commit every detail to memory or notice the level of details that buyers may wish to have explained. We often find little things that a seller can do as a result of our time in the home during an Open House. We can often find corrections to listing information that may been incorrectly supplied by the seller or through a typo on listing input. Ie the age of a furnace, air conditioner, windows or some other important system or component.
Events drive activity and greater activity usually means more sales opportunities: Open houses are great events for a listing agent to advertise around and focus their marketing efforts to gain the best possible reach and exposure. Because there is a time deadline, it should focus those potentially interested in the property to have a good look at it.
Even if they are unsuccessful, they still work: Huh??? We have had a lot of blockbuster open houses that result in multiple offers and sales and we have had just as many that are total duds. As a listing agent, there is nothing worse and more boring than feeling like the Maytag repair man for a couple of hours on a weekend afternoon when no one is coming to see you! After spending time and money in scheduling and prepping for the open house and getting the sellers to vacate for 2 or 3 hours and investing one’s own time, it can be more than annoying when the turnout is poor.
It really does force one to have a good look in the mirror, though and a critical look at the property as well. If one is getting good online activity and reasonable private showings then one should get decent open house turnout as well. If not, one has to assess how well the event was advertised/marketed and if the listing, photos, presentation and pricing on the property are correct.
The more focused activity early in a listing should bring great attention from buyers, since the listing is new and they have not seen it before. If hundreds or thousands are looking at the property online but not booking private showings or coming to an Open House, then there is some kind of disconnect. Buyers are not seeing enough appeal or value at the price level to take the time to come and see the property in person which is not a good sign. It does however, give us some good comparative data and perhaps some feedback from buyers who did view the property. On that data and feedback, we can often have important discussions with sellers or amend some portion of our online presentation, marketing or pricing.
Other open house types: Some listing agents have had success with the “neighbourhood” or “ commuter” open house. These may be along the “sneak peek” marketing line and advertised locally. The commuter open house will typically run 5-7 PM when buyers can pop by on their way home from work and typically occur very early in the listing when it appears it is a good first chance to see the property.
The oft flaunted “Brokers’ Open” one sees on HGTV or Millionaire Listing tv shows, is rarely practiced in our market. (talk about the Maytag repairman!)
Use of open houses can be a contentious topic: There are quite diverging opinions on the value of open house marketing, with some realtors being strongly opposed to their use. Just look online and you can find dozens of articles on why sellers should never consider holding an Open House. We feel completely the opposite, of course, but the bottom line is that sellers can make their own choices and if they don’t see the value then of course, are not required to hold one.
We have many thoughts on why these other Realtors so strongly “DIS” open houses and we will cover these in a future post. Plus “How so many Realtors sabotage their own open houses”, coming soon!
Gord McCormick, Broker of Record
Oasis Realty Brokerage
Ottawa, Canada 613-435-4692 oasisrealty@rogers.com
The Ottawa real estate market just keeps rolling along, with another double digit sales increase recorded in the month of October and continuing listing inventory shortages, with less than 2 months of anticipated sales currently on the market.
Residential unit sales for the month were 16.9% more than October 2018 and the number of condos sold was up 23% during the month.
Monthly average selling prices upward bound: The average selling price of a residential property during October was $483,405 an increase of 7.6% over last year and the average condo sold for $319,208 which was up 18.3%. On a year to date basis, the average residential price is up 8.3% and the average condo is up 9.1%
Listing inventory continues to slide: Residential listings are down 22.3% vs last year at the same time and condo listing inventory is down a significant 38.8%. New listings are not taking up the slack and are pretty flat vs last year, so our increasing sales continue to chew through available listing inventory.
Our number of listings currently available, is less than 1 per Realtor member of the Board.
36% of homes selling above asking: This is a great new stat the Board is tracking and providing, so members and consumers are aware of the real degree of multiple offers. So while it is quite common, it is not happening for every listing. The Board noted in its release that in Oct 2018, only 21% of homes sold were sold above listing price, so our continuing inventory shortages are creating more competitive offer activity, although it should also be mentioned that a high % of listings are holding back offers, which can create a multiple offer situation.
Election fallout? With the minority Federal government coming out of the election, it is highly unlikely the local economy will suffer, as both the Libs and NDP try to out-left one another, which only means more program money and staffing in the National Capital Region. So our local economy should continue to be quite healthy for the duration of the minority government.
Recent job numbers:
Ottawa’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% in October, the lowest it has been since 2007, yet another positive indication that the bull market in real estate should continue in the short to intermediate term, those planning a move may consider acting on their plans, as that home under consideration may well cost $30 or $40K more next year.
Normally the start of hibernation period…but perhaps not this year? Mid November is normally when real estate activity eases seasonally and troughs out for 90 days or so, until we get through the worst of winter and then things get brighter and more active mid-February on. This market, however, should continue to post gains, though the seasonal slump should still occur as usual.
We are big fans of open houses, unlike many agents who tend to pooh-pooh their use. (That’s a topic for another day!)
We have found tremendous success for our sellers by using a dual open house strategy during the first week our listings launch. Here are some of many reasons this strategy works:
Facilitates access for buyers: Buyers like open houses. It is an easy way to have a look at a property with a low commitment level, regardless of where a buyer may be in their purchasing cycle. Many buyers fall in to the “I’ll-know-it-when-I-see-it” category and may watch or browse the market for an extended period, before finding one that ticks all their boxes.
These buyers often “don’t want to bother their agent” and would probably not otherwise book a showing to see the property, without open house availability. Many buyers don’t wish to engage their agent until they are really ready to buy. Many an agent will get a phone call on Sunday evening or Monday morning, from a client who has seen a property at an Open House on the weekend.
We get to “sell” our client’s property! The MLS® network is remarkably effective at putting buyers and listed properties together. One drawback is that as a listing broker, we rarely get to speak directly to a prospective buyer of the property, since that buyer contact is normally managed by another agent in the buyer representative role. So, while we can sell to the buyer rep, we rarely have the same opportunity to speak directly to the buyers. Open Houses give us that opportunity and who better to speak to our own listing than us?
Many open house visitors are quite cautious and reserved (wonder why that is?…we’ll have a post on that in a week or two) but generally speaking, the most interested buyers are very engaged and detailed in checking out the house. Many ask excellent questions too and it is a great time to field those questions and address any objections or possible misconceptions.
The better informed a buyer is and the more chance they have to investigate a property, the less the chance of a conditional sale falling through which is happening with almost frightening frequency in this hot sellers’ market.
We can get a read on potential buyers: We can gauge interest levels by the amount of time a buyer or couple spend in the house. Usually, the longer the stay, the greater the interest. We can also often tell if one half a buyer couple is more interested than another. We can often get a feel for the buyer’s level of interest and key features that may come in handy at offer/negotiation time.
Buyers can get multiple chances to see the property: Too often in our hot sellers’ market, a buyer gets to see a property once and then has to make up their minds about submitting an offer. This is leading to an unprecedented number of conditional sales falling through. By providing two additional chances to visit the property via our open houses, buyers may get a better feel for whether the property is the right one for them.
We even see some buyers twice when the visit both open houses, which is also a good sign that they are activity considering the property.
Buyers see level of interest from other buyers: While we don’t intend to create a boiler room high pressure sales environment, (and we are not high pressure!) we think it is very much in the sellers favour for all buyers to see a house full of prospective buyers at an open house. This shows everyone that the house is getting strong demand and may help motivate them to make an offer and make a strong offer. The fear of loss and need to compete motivation of some buyers is tweaked when a busy open house is experienced.
Open Houses are very democratic: We think open houses allow a wider cross section of buyers to consider the property and in generating more face-to-face visits to the property, we are engaging a larger cross section of the buyer pool. This is both fair to all buyers (not just the early-bird-gets-the-worm buyers and their agents) Many properties are publicized in advance of MLS® publication which often skews the playing field in favour of just a few buyers. While this may be good for those buyers and their agents, it is not necessarily best for our sellers. More exposure-more buyers should equal better and true market value in our opinion.
Best when holding offers: Dual open houses are a great strategy when holding back offers, too. It gives Realtors and buyers ample access to see the property 2 or even 3 times and determine their level of interest and how they plan an offer strategy. Some may even choose to do a pre offer inspection which would help strengthen their offer.
There are a ton of other intangible benefits to dual open houses too but we’ll leave some of those for another post. Right now, it’s late Saturday morning and we have to get ready for our first Open House this weekend!
Gord McCormick, Broker of Record Principal Broker, Ottawa Real Estate Board Dawn Davey, Broker Oasis Realty 613-435-4692 oasisrealty@rogers.com
