Inflation Hits Ottawa Real Estate Market - Greg Hamre RE/MAX Affiliates Ottawa

Inflation hits the Ottawa housing market.

NOW WHAT?

My name is Greg Hamre from RE/MAX Affiliates and the Hamre Real Estate Team.

We really had a sense that the pot was boiling over on the stove.

➡️ You know, pricing on everything is increasing.

Every category of food, ⛽ gasoline and home prices were you know again,  going out of control in a lot of things.

 Something had to happen.

Affordability was plunging and you could really feel it in the pressure of buyers, in the anxiety of buyers and some buyers just stepping right out of the market.

They just couldn't compete anymore.

They couldn't take the anxiety. Lots of pressure now, on the government to react.

They did, they rose their interest rate for the second time in the last three weeks.

It's now back to where it was 24 months ago.

 Pre-pandemic levels. ⚡Is that shocking?

➡️ No. What we needed to get there, we needed to be in a situation where interest rates would somewhat slow down the market.

The problem in Ottawa is that Canada has the lowest number of average homes available.

So we still have a very low inventory.

↘️This adjustment should push some buyers to lower price points.

That million-dollar plus buyer may come into the million seven 50 to a million in that seven 50 to 500 may be pressured into a condominium.

You're going to see that the shift in the marketplace, although again, these, these interest rates right now are not, they're not extravagant.

They're not, they're not over the top.

We've been here before and not that long.

It is somewhat of a relief for buyers in the purchasing power of some buyers will dissipate will, will be less.

So we're expecting, there won't be a dozen offers or half a dozen offers on certain product.

➡️You're going to see a home selling with less competition on the buyer side.

However inventory should increase in the next 30 to 60 days. And we're seeing that already.

We're very busy in our office.

 Today just going into the Easter weekend, there was a frenzy of new listings coming on because it's actually easier to sell your home.

So as a home seller, you want to take advantage of these still very low-interest rates, because it's just easier to sell your home.

☎️ You're talking about, you know, a week or two less than 30 days.

As opposed to months where we were, you know, six or seven years ago where it was, it was multiple months.

The interest rate in Ottawa dropping will is not expected to affect housing prices.

It's that supply-demand the.

The pricing should level off it.

That's what we needed to these 25% increases every year for multiple years in a row is just not unsustainable.

So we need those prices to level off, but you have to understand that somebody who purchased 24 months ago has 50% equity in their home.

Homeowners with mortgages have 50% equity.

So there's, there's a lot of equity in your home.

There's a, there was no crash in sight.

What we need is more foundations being built and it's not just a case of can we build more foundations? It's a labour shortage as well, which we're we're running into.

There will be less homes this fall.

I think the spike in inventory is going to be in the next 60 days.

And that's going to be the best selection of inventory for buyers and the best time to be a seller.

Things will slow down in the fall as far as there'll be fewer homes going on the market and there'll be less availability and less options for buyers.

➡️ So you really wanna get in on that now, pricing again, should stay close.

We've kind of leveled off here in the last few days.

You really know where things are going.

 Sellers it's, it's still a seller's market, though.

A little bit of the frenzy is dissipated from the sizzle of it.

But we've got some really nice product coming on and we're priced as to today's market, understanding what's going on in today.

A little bit of a tip though, for any homeowners or people looking at their mortgage right now, now is not the time to lock into a fixed-rate mortgage that locks you in for five years.

This inflation should be corrected in the next Nine to 12 months.

So we're going to see another jump by June 1st.

Interest rates will go up another half a point this year.

Hopefully they get inflation under control and then rates should be back down, next year, 24 months from now, 12 months from now.

So my suggestion to you is take a variable rate.

Variable rates are still extremely active.

We're talking in the, under 4% range, under 2% in a variable actually, and under 4% and a fixed five year.

So extremely attractive rates. If you've been in this for the long game and you're as old as I am 20 plus years in real estate, but now is a great time to be selling your house, get on the market.

Well, it's still a very attractive.

When Ottawa goes flat, it goes flat for a long time.

 So make sure you're in your forever home right now. Now's the time to think about it.

If you're looking for a buyer out there, get pre-approved right now and get locked in at today's rates, still very affordable, and you're going to see some of the best selection of inventory.

Take care.

My name is Greg Hamre from RE/MAX Affiliates and the Hamre Real Estate Team.

We hope to see you soon. Take care.❤️