A recent statistic I read equated that 50% of houses listed with an offer date, a strategy used to create a multiple offer scenario, had either terminated or re-listed at a higher price. 

This is a huge shift in market sentiment from the fall of 2021 till early March 2022, where the number was in single digits. 

The number of offers that are placed on a property are one indicator to the demand for that type of property. But what isn’t common knowledge, is the spread between the offers. One listing I had recently had 6 offers registered on it. There offers were in order: 103% (of the listed asking price), 103.5%, 113%, 116.5%, 117%, 118.5% and the highest was 120%

The bottom two offers were not close, but the four others were all good offers. I put the lower end of our valuation at the 113% mark. The highest was a fair offer for both sides, and also shows me that four other agents had the value in the price range I thought and the winner was slightly higher than it. But the big thing to note, was there wasn’t the crazy offer of 150% of list that we were seeing in the fall 2021 and early 2022.

Prices so far have kept up but if we see a continuance of 50% of hold backs re-listing I think we’ll start to finally get that tip on pricing we’ve all been waiting for. More listings will shun the hold back strategy and use a “buy now” price. 

It’s clear that the market is slowing but is this a typical bounce down, like years back when we neared the spring time weather and finally getting outdoors into the sunshine. Typically we had a week or two mixed into the active spring market where things were dead. Getting caught in this timing was not fun. But then when the good weather was more constant, we picked back up and the market carried on.

It’s impossible to tell, although we’ll know soon enough. For now, my advice to most sellers would be to get ahead of the market and price realistic if you have to sell. There could be an onslaught of houses on the market at the same time and this for sure will moderate values.