London, Ontario’s red-hot housing market meant that realtor Angela Wilson couldn’t take a holiday on Good Friday.
She and her business partner, her mother Linda, were out at a model home on Riverside Drive before noon, ready to meet with potential buyers.
And in London, there’s more buyers than ever — so many that there aren’t enough houses to meet the demand.
“It’s crazy,” Angela Wilson said. “It’s something we’ve never experienced before.”
Bidding wars, lineups to see new housing subdivisions and record prices in almost every neighbourhood in the city are becoming routine in the once-stagnant, reasonable London market that seems to be finally catching up to the rest of the country.
Weary would-be Toronto-area home buyers unable to afford the astronomical prices are only part of the story in what Jim Smith, president of the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors, said is more than just a bubble.
For too long, he said, prices in London have lagged behind, but with huge price increases in Toronto, the property values are inching up here.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has predicted the boom will last for at least another 18 months.
“We’re obviously totally in a sellers’ market,” Smith said.
In March, 1,242 homes were sold in London and St. Thomas, a 44 per cent jump over last year. It was the most sales for the month since the association began keeping stats 39 years ago.
Annual sales records also are falling in the hot market. Homes sales in the London area in 2016 topped 10,000 for the first time.
With the average house in Toronto now sitting at about $900,000, a lot of big city folks from the GTA are heading down Highway 401 looking for a cheaper alternative, Smith said.
“I think we’re finally catching up with the rest of the province, or the rest of the country for that matter.”
Builders are having trouble keeping up with the demand, Smith said, and re-sale homes are being snapped up even quicker.
There are reports of houses going for on average for $20,000 to $30,000 above asking prices. But bidding wars that have driven home prices to $60,000 to $70,000 above selling price also are taking place.
One high-end home went for more than $200,000 more than what was asked and topped a $1-million price tag.
The sales boom can be partially linked to a more connected world in which buyers can move to London and work online.
But there are others who are retiring in Toronto and cashing out on their real estate to come here “with a mitt-full of money in their pocket,” Smith said.
More out-of-town realtors are starting to come to London, mostly from the Toronto area. More non-board members are applying to have access to lock boxes to show London properties. Forty-one have contacted the association office in the last two weeks, and “that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said.
The GTA spillover and hot market will likely dominate discussion when local realtors gather Tuesday for their annual meeting.
Hot markets also are reported in London’s bedroom communities. “I’ve heard stories in St. Thomas where people are lining up to go through the open houses and then they’re just taking bids at 6 o’clock,” Smith said.
“You hear talk to a lot of veteran agents and they will tell you they’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Smith, who has been a realtor for 25 years.
Bank appraisers aren’t balking at the price increases and are “seeing the value” to approve mortgages, he said.
But with the boom comes some headaches.
You hear talk to a lot of veteran agents and they will tell you they’ve never seen anything like this before
Realtor Diane Lajoie with Sutton Select Realty said she’s heard of young buyers making offers on six or seven properties — and even up to 13 offers — without making a deal.
She’s heard of properties getting as many as 21 offers.
“The market is really intense right now and it’s really difficult for buyers and it’s intimidating for sellers as well,” she said.
It’s made it difficult to predict final prices and sometimes, realtors can work with a buyer for weeks and come up empty.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Lajoie said. “We’ve been in busy markets before but this is really unprecedented.
“It’s happening at every level, in every part of town.”
Wilson said new builds are selling faster than normal and she’s had people calling her looking for any inventory — which is scarce.
“People selling their places with nowhere to go,” she said.
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