Potential homebuyers hope patience pays off as they wait for housing market to cool down

Kelly Anne Reinhart and her husband have been living in Guelph for years and now her husband is looking for a change. But Kelly Anne says they won’t be leaving the city any time soon.

“The prices that are out there and how much people are selling their homes, or the properties for, is way too much,” she told CTV News.

With no houses in their budget range, Kelly Anne hopes the cooling prices will fall enough for them to buy a home in Waterloo region.

“It’s hard like you can't find an apartment now for under a thousand dollars."

Housing prices have steadily declined since last spring but mortgage rates are the highest they’ve been in years with the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate now at 4.5 per cent, the highest it’s been since 2007. This is the eighth consecutive increase since March.

According to this month’s Royal LePage price survey, the aggregate price of a home in Waterloo region fell to $729,700 in the fourth quarter of 2022. While home prices have come down steadily, it’s still not enough for some potential buyers.

"With this inflation, it makes it very hard especially now with hydro going up in price, gas, everything like that is just ridiculous,” said Kelly Anne.

Chris Mochrie, a broker with M1 Real Estate Brokerage in Guelph said while homebuyers are waiting for the market to cool, there’s still strong demand for properties in the lower range of the market, especially from first-time buyers.

"As a first-time homebuyer, this is what they are waiting for so if there were some people who were on the outskirts looking in now they have their opportunity to buy in a comfortable situation,” said Mochrie.

While some say patience will pay off, Mochrie believes buyers don’t have to wait.

"Now that the prices are going down in some places it’s easier to look around," said Kelly Anne.

"It's a great time to buy because you can negotiate, so I'm already seeing that some of these buyers that were sitting on the sidelines are finally saying ‘yes now is a good time,’" explained Mochrie.

He adds 2023 may bring homebuyers better luck.

"Now that the Bank of Canada is saying they're going to cool off on the rates there's gonna be a little bit of stability and people are going to get their feet wet again."