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The bungalow is back in a big way all across North America. No longer just a downsizing choice, it’s a housing form that’s finding more and more fans among families.

With casual layouts, a comfortable human scale and most of the space on one floor, time-strapped families have greater opportunity to gather together.

Read the full story here

After a frigid winter that saw existing home sales plunge dramatically, the Toronto-area housing market continues to experience a fragile spring thaw.

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 8,107 sales yesterday for April, down 7 per cent from a year ago, but less than the 47 per cent free fall experienced in January.

“Conditions in the resale housing market have improved markedly this spring,” TREB president Maureen O’Neill said.

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Well, what a week this has been! On this past Monday, I called to make appointments to show 16 properties (I call this many expecting a few to be sold and one or two to say it is inconvenient). Out of the 16 I called on, 9 of them sold over the weekend!

By Tuesday morning, another 3 of them had sold. Fast forward to Wednesday, and I was looking to book some more showings; called on 12 properties and 7 of them were sold!

Now, there are multiple offers happening, although houses are not necessarily selling for over the list price. Agents from Windsor to Ottawa are reporting the same thing – multiple offers on houses that are easy to show, aggressively priced, and that show really well.

One thing I noted during my showings this week is that there are still a lot of sellers who haven’t caught on to the realities of the market. They are trying to sell a house that needs paint throughout, that has major dings and scratches in the trim and walls, and/or has filthy carpet, AND IS ONLY 5 OR 6 YEARS OLD!

These are NOT the houses that are selling, whether in single offers or multiple offers!

And I just don’t understand this, I really don’t. Why are these people doing this? Are they getting the right advice from their agent, and not listening to that advice? Is their agent even giving them the advice to make it pretty in the first place? What gives with this?

I don’t know about you, but in my 16+ years as a busy Realtor, I have NEVER met someone who loves having their house on the market for 40, 50, 80, 160 days! And it doesn’t need to be this way; it really doesn’t.

If you have your house for sale, are you getting feedback on the showings on your house? I seriously doubt that you are, for a couple of very good reasons:

1. Out of the last 100 houses I have shown, I have had 5 requests for feedback from the listing agents. When I get one of these requests within the first couple of days after I show a house, I respond, and I am very honest about the house, from my perspective of how well it shows and how it is priced. Question for you – does your agent tell you when showing agents say things need to be fixed / cleaned / changed etc.?
2. Most Buyer Agents don’t believe in giving feedback when it is requested. We try 3 times for each showing to get feedback for our listings, and it is hard to get. BUT, we do try, unlike most agents.

Okay, rant mode off, and on to the market data for last week. Doesn’t look a lot different than last week, although the average prices are up. You’ll see one price range where the average sale is higher than the average list; that is because of one particular house that sold in one day for 11% over the list price. It was definitely underlisted, and quite possibly that was deliberate. It sold for a realistic price.

And here is the updated Annual Summary:

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the rant above, so please leave me your comments. Comments are welcome from agents, the general public, and anyone else.

Courtesy of Canada’s Housing Agency, CMHC, there are a number of very informative videos here, accessed by clicking on the dropdown arrow just below the video window.

Click HERE to access the videos.