If you’re trying to buy a home in Peterborough, be prepared to be patient. The local real estate market is short on listings.
“Just to put it in perspective, we do have around 500 active listings, where, from a historical average, we should be looking at around 1,300,” said Kristi Doyle, president of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Association of Realtors.
Doyle said it’s a ripple effect from last year’s buying frenzy, which saw homes snapped up in record time, and over the asking price. Doyle also said news of Toronto’s skyrocketing prices made buyers and sellers nervous, which led to fewer listings.
Doyle said there’s another factor at work in Peterborough — the lack of home construction.
“New home supply is restricted. Peterborough doesn’t have a lot of new builds on the go right now,” she said.
Though the buying frenzy has slowed, home prices haven’t exactly followed. In fact, the average home price rose $412,000 from $400,000, year over year.
Century 21 brokerage owner Vanessa Oake Hogan said buyers and sellers have to lower their expectations given the current market.
“You can’t really buy much for $250,000 like you could a few years ago,” she said. “You have to get your head around the fact that the average home price is over $400,000.”
Oake Hogan said sellers are hoping last year’s frenzy will repeat itself, putting high price tags on properties and sparking bidding wars.
“Sometimes you will see houses go on the market at a slightly higher price than maybe they should be at, and those homes will sit.”
“The market is going to dictate what your home is going to sell for,” she said.
Oake Hogan said there is a silver lining. During last year’s home selling craze, properties were sold without conditions — something that can lead to unhappy buyers and potential lawsuits.
This year, she said, buyers are making offers with more conditions.
“We’re pretty happy to see that, because that’s more protection for the buyer, and it usually means a more viable transaction.”
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