So who is to blame for housing prices?
Recently realtors have been touted as being solely responsible for the increase in housing prices. I watch, as almost monthly now, a new type of company, with a wonderfully creative business plan, claiming to be the answer to increasing prices appears on the scene. Unfortunately none of these companies do anything to answer the underlying cause of housing price increases… LACK OF SUPPLY.
Yes the Barb & Carole team are proud of the fact that our sellers have gotten good sale prices on their homes. We work hard in promoting each property and showing each at their best. But are we responsible for the increase in the average cost of a house in Ottawa increasing dramatically this past year? No we are not.
What happens next?
Yes we are responsible for attracting maximum attention to each property, exposing it to as many potential purchasers as possible and negotiating a good price on each house. But when the current supply increases (with new homes being built, people down-sizing into retirement or adult rental units, or with current rentals being removed from the rental market and converted to a non-rental property) it is my humble opinion that the dramatic price increases will level out. Will they go down? Not likely. But the extreme increases should plateau.
