If you are working the downtown condo market or involved in the ridiculously heated rental market you might wonder what all the talk is about a declining real estate market.  However, if you are working the uptown detached market you might be trying to focus your inner Stuart Smalley by slowly repeating “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and gosh darn it people want to buy my listings”. Buyers who are looking at the entry level market, which these days means small condos, are in tough and often competing for a space to call home.  The Buyers that had been chomping at the bit and competing for the large detached homes seem to have completely forgotten that they ever wanted to buy anything at all.

The freehold market has continued its slow march to the summer months with a decline in sales of nearly 45% to only 64 sales this past week compared to 113 the week before. And while we still here the odd story of multiple offers, the number of homes selling above their listed price has dropped to only 20%.  Listings last week increased substantially over the week before with an increase of almost 50%. Most of the increase in new listings came in the east and west areas while the central core remained fairly consistent over the previous week.

The condo market has also settled into the summer cycle with an increase in new listings and a decline in sales over the previous week. Maybe the most interesting aspect of the condo market is the difference between the entry level condo and the high end condo market. If you are looking to get into the starter market in condos be prepared for continued stiff competition.  More than 50% of the condos listed under $700,000 sold above their advertised price which is a trend we have been watching closely for several weeks.  It was reported that an aggressively priced condo in the central core recently garnered the attention of 40 offers.  Lucky for the 39 bidders that lost that there are a whole lot more condos coming to market this summer for them to bid on. Not so lucky perhaps are sellers of high end condos who have seen a marked decrease in sales activity.