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Friday, January 25, 2013

Market Analysis

Market Analysis

It’s time to decide on an asking price. You know that setting the right price for current housing market conditions is crucial, and you’ve been told that overpricing can spell death for a new listing. But how do you determine the fair market value of your home if you don’t know the intricacies of your local housing market?
Wouldn’t it be great if you had some insider knowledge? Some sort of real estate cheat sheet that gives the inside scoop on the local real estate market?
It would have to contain valuable information that you could never determine on your own, like how much your neighbors’ houses are selling for and the current mood of the local housing market. And just what is that all-important asking price that will ensure maximum return on your investment without pricing you out of contention?
There’s good news! Such a document does exist, and you can have it thanks to your local Royal LePage real estate agent. When you sign on to work with a Royal LePage sales representative, you’ll receive a custom-prepared Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that indicates what today’s buyers are willing to pay for a house like yours in your area.
Your agent does this property assessment by comparing the market activity and prices of homes in your neighbourhood that are similar to yours. Prices for homes that have recently sold represent what buyers are prepared to pay. The price of homes currently listed for sale represents the price sellers hope to obtain. And those listings that have expired were generally overpriced or poorly marketed.
The CMA gives you a sales edge that your competitors may not have. The for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) crowd can’t access information like this. Real estate industry insiders have proprietary access to much of the data used in the analysis, and it’s your agent’s years of experience and intimate knowledge of the local housing market that makes him best qualified to interpret the data and make sound recommendations.
Sure, you may see what people are asking for their homes by studying MLS listings, but that doesn’t help you determine the actual selling price. The selling price almost always differs from the asking price, sometimes drastically depending on the state of the real estate market.
And because your agent earns their livelihood from the buying and selling of homes in your neighbourhood, you can be assured they have an ear to the ground where market conditions are concerned. By understanding and evaluating the local housing market, your agent can adjust the sales strategy accordingly.
The last thing you want is your unsold home languishing because the selling strategy was developed without considering whether it’s a seller’s market, a buyer’s market, or somewhere in between (balanced).
Understanding market conditions is as simple as knowing the basic law of supply and demand. When there are more homes for sale than there are potential buyers, house prices drop. When there are fewer houses on the market than there are buyers, house prices will climb. When the number of homes on the market is roughly equal to the number of buyers, it’s called a balanced market.
Here’s how the housing market could affect your approach to selling:

Seller’s market

This is the ideal position for a seller. With fewer homes to choose from, competition between buyers becomes a factor. This can spawn bidding wars that drive prices up.
You can expect to sell your home faster in a seller’s market, and when it comes time to negotiate, you may not need to compromise on any unattractive conditions requested by the buyer.

Buyer’s market

Your position as a seller becomes a little trickier in a buyer’s market. A buyer’s market means that you face more competition from other sellers. Your home may stay on the market longer, which can give the buyer more leverage.
Expect to sell for a little less, and be prepared to compromise or accept conditional offers more readily than you would in a seller’s housing market.

Balanced market

Selling in a balanced market is a much more predictable endeavour. With sellers and buyers in equilibrium, home prices stabilize and the atmosphere on both sides of the transaction becomes relaxed.
Contact a local Diane and Paul Laflamme at Royal LePage Village to  find out how they would market your home in the current housing market.

Analyse de marché

Le moment est venu de décider d’un prix de vente. Vous savez que la fixation du juste prix en tenant compte des conditions immobilières actuelles est cruciale, et on vous a dit que le fait de demander un prix excessif peut être tragique pour une nouvelle inscription. Mais comment déterminer la juste valeur marchande de votre propriété sans connaître les subtilités du marché immobilier local?
Ne serait-il pas formidable de posséder quelques connaissances d’expert? Une sorte d’aide mémoire immobilier qui vous tient au fait des primeurs du marché immobilier local?
Il pourrait renfermer de précieux renseignements que vous ne pourriez jamais trouver seul, par exemple le prix de vente des propriétés du voisinage, l’état actuel du marché immobilier local, et ce prix de vente à demander qui est si important pour maximiser le rendement du capital investi sans vous exclure du marché.
Et voici la bonne nouvelle : un tel document existe déjà, et l’agent immobilier Royal LePage de votre région se fera un plaisir de vous le remettre! Lorsque vous commencerez à travailler avec un agent immobilier Royal LePage, vous recevrez une analyse comparative de marché (ACM) personnalisée indiquant quel prix les acheteurs sont prêts à payer actuellement pour une propriété comme la vôtre dans le quartier.
Votre agent immobilier fait cette analyse de propriété en comparant l’activité du marché et le prix des propriétés semblables à la vôtre dans votre quartier. Le prix des propriétés qui ont récemment été vendues représente ce que les acheteurs sont prêts à payer. Les propriétés inscrites sont offertes au prix que les vendeurs espèrent obtenir. Les propriétés dont les inscriptions sont échues étaient généralement surévaluées ou mises en marché de façon inadéquate.
L’ACM vous donnera une marge relative à la vente que vos concurrents n’auront peut être pas. Les très nombreux vendeurs qui posent l’affiche « À vendre par le propriétaire » n’auront pas accès à une telle information. Les experts de l’industrie de l’immobilier bénéficient d’un accès exclusif à la plus grande partie des données de cette analyse. C’est pourquoi les nombreuses années d’expérience de votre agent immobilier et son étroite connaissance du marché immobilier local en font la personne la mieux qualifiée pour interpréter ces données et faire des recommandations avisées.
C’est vrai, vous pourrez voir quel prix demandent les vendeurs pour leurs propriétés en examinant les inscriptions SIA, mais cela ne vous aidera pas à déterminer le prix de vente réel. Celui-ci diffère presque toujours du prix demandé, parfois même considérablement selon l’état du marché immobilier.
Et dans la mesure où votre agent immobilier gagne sa vie en achetant et en vendant des propriétés dans votre quartier, soyez assuré qu’il est à l’affût de tout ce qui a trait aux conditions du marché. En comprenant et en évaluant le marché immobilier local, votre agent immobilier peut modifier la stratégie de vente en conséquence.
La dernière chose que vous souhaitez voir se produire, c’est que votre propriété ne se vende pas parce que la stratégie de vente a été mise au point sans tenir compte du fait que vous vous trouvez dans un marché vendeur, acheteur ou quelque part entre les deux (soit dans un marché équilibré).
Comprendre les conditions du marché est aussi simple que comprendre la loi de l’offre et de la demande. Lorsqu’il y a plus de propriétés à vendre que d’acheteurs potentiels, le prix des propriétés baisse. Inversement, lorsqu’il y a moins de propriétés sur le marché que d’acheteurs, le prix des propriétés grimpe. Et lorsque le nombre de propriétés sur le marché est à peu près équivalent au nombre d’acheteurs, on parle de marché équilibré.
Voilà comment le marché immobilier pourrait influencer votre approche à titre de vendeur :

Marché vendeur

C’est la position idéale pour un vendeur! Le nombre de propriétés à vendre étant plus réduit, la concurrence entre les acheteurs joue un certain rôle. Elle peut engendrer des guerres d’enchères qui feront monter les prix.
Vous pouvez vous attendre à vendre votre propriété plus rapidement dans un marché vendeur, et quand viendra le temps de négocier, vous n’aurez peut être pas à faire de compromis sur des conditions désavantageuses exigées par l’acheteur.

Marché acheteur

À titre de vendeur, votre situation devient un peu plus délicate dans un marché acheteur. Sur ce marché, vous êtes confronté à une concurrence accrue de la part des autres vendeurs. Votre propriété peut rester plus longtemps sur le marché, ce qui donne à l’acheteur une plus grande marge de manœuvre.
Attendez vous à vendre un peu moins cher et à faire des compromis ou à accepter des offres conditionnelles beaucoup plus facilement que vous ne le feriez dans un marché vendeur.

Marché équilibré

Vendre dans un marché équilibré devient un exercice beaucoup plus prévisible. Puisque le nombre de vendeurs et d’acheteurs est équilibré, le prix des propriétés se stabilise et l’ambiance devient plus détendue pour les deux parties dans la transaction.

Unmarried Quebec couples have no right to alimony, court rules


Unmarried Quebec couples who live together and then split up are not entitled to the same rights as legally married couples, when it comes to spousal support, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.
By a 5-4 margin, the top court decision released Friday says the province's civil code is constitutional in its treatment of the financial entitlement of couples who are not legally married and who separate.
The decision means Quebec remains the only province that does not recognize "de facto" marriages.
The ruling has broad implications in a province where the 31.5 per cent of couples report being in de facto relationships, versus an average of 12.1 per cent in the rest of Canada.
Justice Louis LeBel, writing for the five-judge majority, said there was no charter violation at play because the current provincial law promotes autonomy.
"The Quebec National Assembly has not favoured one form of union over another," he wrote.
"The legislature has merely defined the legal content of the different forms of conjugal relationships. It has made consent the key to changing the spouses' mutual patrimonial relationship.

"In this way, it has preserved the freedom of those who wish to organize their patrimonial relationships outside the mandatory statutory framework."
While the province's Civil Code does not regulate the status of de facto spouses, some laws — including those governing social assistance, income tax and Quebec's Pension Plan — treat them as a couple.

The case that sparked the debate, known as Lola vs. Eric, had been making its way through the court system for years. It involved a Quebec couple who never married, but lived together for seven years and share three children.
A court order prevents the publication of the parties' real names.
Pierre Bienvenu, the lawyer representing "Eric," said his client is relieved the long court process is over and is satisfied with the decision.
"It is really by force that he was dragged into this long debate," Bienvenu said.

After separating, Lola sought spousal support, but Quebec's Civil Code provides no such provision for couples who are not legally married.
Lola had been seeking a $50-million lump-sum payment as well as $56,000 a month from her former spouse — a well-known Quebec business tycoon known in the case as Eric. Lola was 17 when she met the then 32-year-old entrepreneur.
When they split, Eric agreed to pay generous child support — but he rejected the lump sum and annual alimony settlement claim.
The woman took her case to the Quebec Superior Court in 2009, when a judge rejected her claims, saying that under existing law, partners in a de facto relationship have no rights, duties and responsibilities to each other — no matter how many years they've lived together.

Lawyer says 'ball back in legislators' court'

In November 2010, a Quebec Court of Appeal decision invalidated that section of the civil code, saying the law discriminates against unmarried couples, and the province was given one year to change the law.
The Quebec government described that ruling as a mistake, and appealed to the Supreme Court.
Guy Pratte, the lawyer who argued Lola's case, said Friday morning that he was disappointed with the decision, but it doesn't mean the matter is settled.
"The implication for Quebec society is that the ball is now back in the legislators' court."

Quebec Justice Minister Bertrand St-Arnaud said the decision "confirms the principle of freedom of choice which has always governed life in Quebec, in other words the freedom of couples who choose the rules that will govern their union."
He said there are already a number of options open to unmarried couples who want the same rights as married couples, including civil unions and a cohabitation contract.
St-Arnaud also said it may be time for a "general reflection" on the status of families under the law.

"It's true that in the last decade, our social and family realities have evolved, and is it time for us to start to think again about the regime in our civil code? Maybe."
Statistics Canada says nearly 1.4 million Quebecers are in what the federal agency calls "common-law" relationships, according to the 2011 census, and about 60 per cent of children are born to such unmarried couples.
With files from The Canadian Press

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