Like the oversized, hideously ugly pimple faced punk terrorizing the schoolyard and stealing milk money, bullies have always been present.
Likewise, during just about my entire time in the real estate industry, bullies (ie bully offers) have been wreaking equal havoc and crushing would be buyer’s dreams and wallets.
It seemed this would never change, and I even wrote an entry on the bully offer way back in 2015 in the infancy of this humble blog. In case you missed it (and I’m sure you did), the link is below:
But this year starting around May things started to change. A series of aggressive interest rate hikes and serious buyer fatigue stalled the market, and over the Summer months it seemed just about every property was listed with “Offers Anytime”.
Buyers exhaled and looked to the Fall market with a renewed hope, as it was now their time to flex some muscle. Sadly for them, it looks like that window might be rapidly closing.
The first evidence I had was when I had a client submit an offer on a perfectly average condo near the downtown waterfront. Listed at $999,000, it attracted 17 offers and sold for over $1.3 million. HUH??
This prompted me to look further at some recent sales data, and I chose Leslieville, one of my favourite neighbourhoods.
Now, I don’t like to jump to major conclusions on such a small sample size and based on data from just one neighbourhood, but some early Fall sales from Leslieville are showing that the market is starting to run hotter than an unhinged Kanye West instagram rant. Furthermore, in all of these sales the bully offer has been front and center.
Consider these sales from the past week. Forgive me for not providing full addresses but for some reason we are not allowed to do that, and I honestly have no idea why when anybody can go to House Sigma and look it up. But I digress.
Sale 1
4 bedroom and 3 bathroom detached 3 storey with lane parking on Boston Ave.
Listed at $1,979,000 and sold for $2,500,000 on a bully offer. 126% of the asking price.
Sale 2
3 bedroom and 3 bathroom detached 2 storey with lane parking on Boston Ave (again).
Listed at $1,499,000 and sold for $1,800,000 on a bully offer. 120% of the asking price.
Sale 3
4 plus 1 bedroom and 4 bathroom semi – detached 3 storey with no parking sold on Langley Ave (technically Riverdale but close enough).
Listed at $1,599,000 and sold for $2,210,000 on a bully offer. A whopping 138% of the asking price.
Sale 4
3 bedroom and 2 bathroom 2 storey freehold townhouse with no parking sold on Woodfield Rd.
Listed at $1,159,900 and sold for $1,325,000 on a bully offer. 114% of the asking price.
A few words in closing:
I predicted we hit the bottom of the market during the Summer and this momentum lends credence to that.
I would classify all of these houses as very desirable in their own way and for the locations. I have stated many times before that highly desirable houses, or “A” listings will always sell relatively quickly and for good money in any market. This bears that out and doesn’t surprise me.
What did surprise me somewhat was seeing the big bully offers come back. Maybe this will prove to be an outlier as we get further into the Fall but these early sales can’t be ignored. It shows there are active buyers willing to go big for the right house, and it indicates the market might be coming back faster than most expected.
There is a saying that you only recognize the bottom of the market once you have already missed it, and it will be fascinating to see in the coming weeks if that ends up being the case. Giddy Up!
