My take on the current market

With so many changes in the market, I have recently been getting a lot of calls/emails with questions such as, "Is this a good time to buy?" or "Should we wait to buy?" "Will prices continue to decline?" etc...

And when you ask around enough, you will come up with a lot of different answers. After spending 15 years in this business, I believe I have a pretty good idea of the current market and what may affect it in the future.

Is this a good time to buy?

With not many listings hitting the market in July/\August, as these are considered slow months of the real estate cycle there is less listings to choose from at the current time. This may be a good time to buy as many buyers are on the fence right now waiting for either more changes in the market or more listings. This would give a buyer that is offering on a home right now an advantage as the likelihood of competition would be low.

Should we wait to buy?

If you are looking for a very specific property or want more choice, you are better of waiting until September/October for more inventory to come on the market. With that being said, I feel that there are many buyers waiting for that as well and there may be more competition in the fall.

Will prices continue to decline?

This is the million dollar question! Just as no one could have predicted the market to slow so rapidly after the government announced the new rules/regulations, I believe no one can with certainty predict whether prices will continue to decline. With that being said, I believe with buyers waiting to see what happens and sellers trying to sell of quickly in May and June (which explains the huge influx of new listings in those months), the market will correct itself by the end of fall. I believe we will go back to a somewhat normal market with balanced numbers of listings and sales. I do not believe that prices will go up but don't believe that they will decrease much further.

This is a difficulty market to be in as a buyer, but with the right knowledge and understanding you can make the right decisions!