The great real estate stalemate

Sellers won’t sell, buyers won’t buy. The buyer-seller standoff holding the London housing market hostage

REAL ESTATE IN the London region is stubborn. More specifically, sellers are stubbornly hanging on to recent memories of higher prices following the pandemic. Buyers are stubbornly watching all the signs that suggest prices will fall in the near term and refusing to spend on ‘overpriced’ housing.

For their part, mortgage companies are stubbornly, patiently hoping for conditions to improve, offering every kind of concession to clients to avoid a costly, embarrassing and difficult foreclosure cycle. And builders are stubbornly withholding investments in a period where financing costs can’t be assured, material costs are under threat from tariffs and buyers lack the necessary confidence to make commitments.

Real estate prices remain stubbornly high despite falling demand and growing inventory. Sellers refuse price reductions and refuse low ball offers, stubbornly hanging on for improved conditions or better times. 

But ‘better times’ may be elusive. Given record inventory levels, tariff wars, pending higher rate mortgage renewals, rising unemployment and stagflation (economic downturn plus inflation), there are virtually no signals that we should expect higher housing prices in the near term. 

If you were to accept that house prices have peaked and will likely fall in the coming year or two, how would you adjust to that reality? As a seller, would you list sooner? Would you lower your asking price? As a buyer, would you sit back and be patient, waiting out the stubborn seller? This appears to be what buyers are doing. Sellers, on the other hand, seem unwilling to accept anything other than better times are coming. This has lowered market activity to historic lows. Fewer houses are changing hands, slowing our market, slowing our economy and adding to already dangerous levels of uncertainty.

We can’t prescribe a solution; the market is what it is, and we must adapt to it. In this game of musical chairs, there are more and more sellers circling a declining number of buyers ― the music has slowed for the last two years. The question is, do you still want to be circling if or when the music stops?

Market analysis provided by Marcus Plowright, Sales Representative, A Team London. Marcus can be reached at 519-872-8326 or marcus@ateamlondon.ca.

High- and low-priced real estate listings around town this week

London East

Low

Address: 1 Rathgar Street
MLS number: X12046878
List price: $309,900
Days on market: 25
Size: 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,500-2,000 square feet
Listing agent: Nathan Blanco, Salesperson, EXP Realty

High

Address: 427 Regent Street
MLS number: X11989459
List price: $1,679,000
Days on market: 55
Size: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3,000-3,500 square feet
Listing agent: Ashley Winder, Sales Representative, Sutton Group – Select Realty

London North

Low

Address: 148 Adelaide Street North
MLS number: X12016792
List price: $384,999
Days on market: 40
Size: 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 1,500-2,000 square feet
Listing agent: Tony Mann, Salesperson, Homelife/Miracle Realty Ltd.

High

Address: 864 Clearview Avenue
MLS number: X9298104
List price: $3,995,000
Days on market: 230
Size: 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5,000-plus square feet
Listing agent: Michael Reis, Salesperson, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

London South & West

Low

Address: 162 Chesterfield Avenue
MLS number: X12052698
List price: $379,000
Days on market: 21
Size: 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Listing agent: Heather Jonhston, Broker, Re/Max Centre City Realty Inc.

High

Address: 9385 Elviage Drive
MLS number: X12002246
List price: $3,490,000
Days on market: 48
Size: 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 3,500-5,000 square feet
Listing agent: Ashley Winder, Sales Representative, Sutton Group – Select Realty

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Disclaimer: London Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy of the statistical data on this page. The data does not represent the listings of any one agent or agency but represents the activity of the real estate community in the area. Any real estate agent’s ad appearing is separate from the statistical data provided, which is in no way a part of their advertisement.