I'd like to share a story with you from Jim - one of the partners on my team.  

He did a showing (I won't say where it is - because we can't talk negatively about houses - that's the deal - which is kind of odd, because it stifles our opinion).  So I won't give the location, all I'll say is it was in Halton region.  It was listed fairly low - a detached in the $700K range, so he booked an appointment because he had some clients who wanted to take a look at it.  Jim was downstairs showing his client the basement and someone upstairs flushed the toilet.  The next thing you know, water started pouring down the wall. He immediately said, "you know what, this isn't for you".  And that was it - they left.  

The funny thing is, three days later was the offer date and it had 18 offers on it.  It sold firm, well over the asking price (I'm not going to say how much it sold for because I don't want anyone to check it out or track it down).  So, when you see something like that, you have to think there's something not right.  There's something not right with this market.  And to whoever bought that place - when the market is not hot, good luck selling, because a few years ago that would have taken 4,5,6, even 8 months, after a bunch of price drops and all sorts.  

So, as you can see, the market is still crazy.  We're not quite at the peak but we're getting there.  We're getting close because I'm getting so many people talking about it now.  I've never had this before -the way clients are inquiring.  There was a house in Mississauga that listed for $899,000 - 3 bedroom detached with double car garage.  My client asked, "If it's listed at $899,000 what do you think it will go for?"  I said I figured $1.2-$1.25M.  It sold for $1.35M. So when you see numbers like that, it makes you scratch your head. It doesn't make sense.  And guys like that - they just "tap out".  They say, "I'm out, I'm going to wait and see what happens with the market".  I'm getting that from alot of my clients - they've decided to wait a bit - to sit on the sidelines and see what happens, because things are just getting too overheated. And then you see BNN & Bloomberg talking about it being overheated - so when you see it in the public like that (public opinion) then people start to back away, shy away. 

So that's the scoop.  But if you're selling, and you can do it now, then do it - that's my advice to you.  Because rates were supposed to go up last week, but they didn't, which was surprising.  When they go up in March, it's not going to be much, but it's just the thought of it - that will be more meaningful than the actual number, in my opinion, because it's just going to scare a few people.

The average bungalow right now in Georgetown is going for over a million.  In Milton, the average 3-storey townhouse is going for over a million (I used to sell those 15 years ago for $250,000). Just goes to show you how wild the market is right now!