The sellers market of 2022 is long behind us but the casualties of its memory are still present. We will look at the actual data of what is happening now while doing an autopsy  on an unfortunate seller that fell victim to the memory of days past. 

The Data

If the first image should do anything, it should visually drive home the point that "things are different now" in a big way. The average 8 days to sell has suddenly become 25. But here's the thing, it's not slowing down. January 2025 is breaking even higher to 44 dom.

The amount of actual sales has fallen by a whopping 80%!  

This is a fundamental market shift. This isn't a temporary blip. This isn't a temporary cold flash. This is a solidified and set-in trend. If you don't believe it just go for a drive and count the "SOLD" signs.  You will see in the entirety of Halton Hills, finding one is a tall order. 

Now this is what you WILL find:

FOR SALE

Those signs are EVERYWHERE. 

In fact the lowest amount of active listings in any one given month since mid-2022 has been 120 peaking at 270 properties offered up for sale. 

So to summarize -

3x as many properties offered for sale..

1/5 the amount sold..

4x the time it takes to sell..

The natural result:

A significant drop in the amount of $ money buyers are willing to pay. 

We sometimes get it backwards and think that it is the seller that sets the price. 

If a buyer isn't willing to buy what we are selling for the amount we are selling for our listing will sit until either we reduce the price to the buyers threshold (this part is fluid, more on that later) OR the listing will expire unsold.

A property is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it at any given time. Case in point the unfortunate and very preventable sale on the following property.

The $1,000,000 loss..

In mid 2023 I was prepping to list a rural property along Trafalgar Road when this following gem made my list of comparable properties by virtue of its size and features. Seeing the list price I expected to find many modern and well equipped structures but alas, it was quickly thrown into the pile of "unrealistic seller" 

Fast forward to 2025, again I found myself in the area, prepping another property for sale and wouldn't you know it; I see a in the recently sold history this same farm, only this time the sold price was not shocking at all. THIS time it made my comparables list.

The tragic part is that those sellers could have gotten a LOT more for it than they eventually did. 

What went wrong?

1 of 2 things: 

1. An unrealistic seller. The seller was living in the past frenzy of 2021-2022 real estate market and couldn't accept the fact that things had changed even though its was in the data.

2. A lazy realtor. The "C grade" realtor inflates a sellers hopes just to get the listing, doing a massive dis-service by their inability to price and advise their seller with data and a plan; post on MLS and pray being the go to marketing "strategy". 

The Solution

If you are worried about making this mistake OR on the other end leaving money on the table please consider this:

Drone footage and good photos aren’t going to get you the money you deserve for your property. 

If you want max value, those are just the BASICS

You need Active selling that leverages the following:

Creative video ads

These are ads tailored specifically to your property and targeted specifically at the 3 main buyer profiles that would find value in those features. 

i.e. advertising a 2 acre hobby farm to professionals just out of college won't work. 

Print Media

The "Just Listed" + feature sheet package is literally the bare minimum to proffesionally  market a property. Step it up with personal invitations to "choose your next neighbour" that offer sharable links and video the 1,000 home owners in the area can share on social media.  

Private buyer lists 

If your Realtor doesn't already have working lists of:

- investors

- private buyers

-specific interest buyers

They are doing you a disservice. I can connect people and create opportunities that otherwise would never happen. 

Good ol' Door Knocking

Sweat equity is still a thing. I still door knock every week for many hours. I door knock ~500 doors around each listing I take. This allows me to know things and meet people otherwise impossible. This has given me a deep database of connections. Trades and services, buyers and sellers, all of it gets tapped for maximum effect to my clients bottom line.

You Deserve More

You can reach out to my office here: (416) 993-7653

Directly to me here: (647) 227-7968

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