An Outburst of Action in an idle Market - Detached house in Toronto listed for $559,000, sells for $611,000 in January

CAROLYN IRELAND
From Friday's Globe and Mail
January 30, 2009 at 12:00 AM EST

Julia Lewis knew she had to brace homeowner Lucy Ivens for a deep freeze in Toronto's real estate market at the start of January.
Ms. Lewis was helping her long-time friend to ready her house in the Annex neighbourhood for sale after Ms. Ivens moved into a seniors' residence.
"She was aware of the economic turmoil," says Ms. Lewis. "I tried to sit her down and explain it could take a long time."
So, after Ms. Lewis warned Ms. Ivens that the house might take as long as three months to sell, the Victorian semi-detached on Brunswick Avenue hit the market on a Friday with an asking price of $464,000. By Monday morning, offers had started rolling in. Later that evening, Ms. Ivens had received seven bids and sold the house for $492,000.
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Despite the sluggish market, a few bidding skirmishes have popped up in Toronto recently. One house was listed at $559,000, selling for $611,000 after seven days on the market in January.

"She was overwhelmed," says Ms. Lewis of her 90-year-old friend. "She was very happy at the end."No one was more surprised than broker Elden Freeman of Freeman Real Estate Ltd., who listed the house. He had not set an offer date because bidding wars had become so rare in Toronto.

"The intention was not to get multiple offers — we were totally shocked."
After a dismal fall stretched into a bleak December in Toronto's housing market, many agents were nervous about what January might bring.
But, while the market continues to be sluggish in some areas, a few bidding skirmishes popped up in the opening weeks of 2009, agents and homeowners report.

In a survey of 23 Toronto markets, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. found that the average price of a detached bungalow dropped 8.2 per cent to $411,483 in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007.
Two-storey properties surveyed dipped by 6.8 per cent year-over-year to $513,417 during the fourth quarter.

Cheri Dorsey McCann of Sutton Group-Bayview Realty Inc. says open houses have been booming so far this year. She has sold five houses this month after selling only two during the fall.

Sellers of a three-bedroom detached house near Yonge and Lawrence received multiple offers on a house listed for $669,000.
The sellers are move-up buyers who didn't want to purchase another property until they knew how much they would receive for their existing property.
"They're upgrading," says Ms. McCann. "We negotiated a long closing. Now they can buy and feel comfortable."

Joanne Gludish of Royal LePage Real Estate Services recently sold a house near Kipling and Eglinton for 112 per cent of asking after the house was on the market for one week.The house was listed for $324,900 and sold for $365,000. More than 50 parties toured the three-level backsplit, which Ms. Gludish was aiming at first-time buyers in her marketing.

Back on Brunswick, Mr. Freeman listed a detached house in December for $559,000 and was surprised when it sold for $611,000 after seven days on the market.
"It was insane," says Mr. Freeman of the bidding war during the holiday season.
The house did not show well, he says, because the same owner had lived there for 60 years and accumulated a lot of belongings.

But in the spring of 2008, the semi next door, with no parking, sold for about $900,000.Mr. Freeman says the house listed for $559,000 had more than 100 people looking at it despite the fact that he didn't set up a website for it or have interior photos taken.

"There are buyers out there," he says.
He says bidders figured they could pay about $600,000 for it, invest $150,000 or $200,000 in fixing it up and still feel that they were ahead of the game compared with the high price paid for the renovated semi in the spring.
"It attracted amazing attention," says Mr. Freeman.

The broker says that he sometimes has trouble persuading sellers that they should list their houses for less than their neighbours received in late 2007 and early 2008. He doesn't want to take on the time and expense of listing a property at an unrealistic price."The values have come down. I'm sorry. People have to get that through their heads."

Ms. Lewis says she decided to list Ms. Ivens's house with Mr. Freeman after spending several months researching house sales in the Annex.
The house is a charming Victorian with lovely period details, but it has not been renovated.

Ms. Lewis figured that would be appealing to buyers who do not want to pay for another owner's outmoded improvements.

She had previously interviewed several agents and was advised that the house could sell for between $475,000 and $530,000."Knowing that the market had gone down, we decided not to price it higher," she says.

Ms. Lewis did not want Ms. Ivens to have to continue paying for insurance, maintenance, taxes and utilities while she was living elsewhere.
She also decided to have the house ready for the first week after New Year's, figuring that many other sellers wouldn't have their houses ready until later in the month."Those who are thinking of buying are starting to look," she says. "I feel that you get a bit of a jump."The strategy paid off, she believes.
"There was a market here for a house like this."

Asher Ullah
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