If you’re in the market to buy a house in Kingston, Ont., you may encounter frustration as many other people also have their eyes on the same house — in many cases, sparking bidding wars.
Ryan and Natalie Henderson have been looking to downsize to a smaller home in Kingston: “A newer house that is updated. Not to have to fix a lot of things,” says Natalie Henderson.
The couple is trying to buy a home in a seller’s market when there is a low inventory of homes. And that’s not expected to change anytime soon.
Over the last year, the Hendersons have looked at close to 30 homes.
On two occasions, the couple made offers of $20,000 over the asking price with no conditions — and lost.
“You could go into this with six other offers. The house has been listed for one day. And then you lose with no conditions,” Natalie Henderson says. “The biggest thing is the disappointment and having to start the process all over again.”
“The market is super hot in Kingston,” says Mat Clancy from RealtySource Inc. Brokerage. “There are many reasons for that.”
“One of the major reasons is in March of this year, for example, there are a lot less residential listings coming onto the market than in years past.”
According to the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association, new residential listings last month were the lowest they’ve been since 2003, down over 15 per cent from 2018.
“As a real estate agent, we now have to play a different ballgame so to speak. There’s different techniques, different tools we can use to help buyers find that dream home,” says Clancy.
According to Clancy, one way to give buyers an advantage is jumping on a listing before it goes public and going in with your best offer off the top.
And as it turns out, that’s what helped the Hendersons find their perfect home. The couple put in an offer this week at $31,000 over asking, with no conditions, that was accepted: a clear example of the red-hot realty market in Kingston.
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