This past weekend, clients of ours, were featured in the Globe and Mail for a story on Calgary’s “downturned” real estate market. The headline of the story “Calgary home sellers trapped in a downturn market”, paints a bit of a muddy picture about the reality of the housing market in our city right now.
The reality is that home sellers are not “trapped”, it’s just important to be knowledgeable about the market at the time of selling. The real estate market is cyclical, it will always have years of upward trends and some that ebb a bit, and the market will switch from favouring buyers to sellers as well. Right now we are sitting in a buyer’s market, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sell your home, or that you shouldn’t.
The Onslows are clients that we’ve worked with for many years, having helped them sell three homes. They shared some of their frustrations with the Globe and Mail about the current market, but the bigger picture is that they did sell their home.
When the conditions finally came off last week and the sale was a go, the couple was relieved. “I put my hands up in the air, I was so happy. Our office has no walls and I [screamed] ‘My house is sold!’” Mrs. Onslow recalls. “A humungous weight has been lifted.”
The key is to remain competitive when conditions favour buyers. Len Wong has some insight into this:
It’s important to be aware of the market conditions and competition in the area. The Onslows were aware of the market and were proactive in the market to get their home sold.
People just have to understand it’s a buyer’s market and that sellers need to be competitive.
Do you have any questions about selling your home in Calgary? Please feel free to contact us.
