It’s been a chilly start to the spring homebuying season. After a jump in the number of neighbourhoods in Durham Region with homes selling above asking in February, the Durham market appears to have softened once again. The share of overbid neighbourhoods dropped from 17 per cent to 8 per cent in March.
Meanwhile, communities in underbidding territory increased from 78 per cent to 88 per cent, while 5 per cent of neighbourhoods had homes selling at list price, down slightly from the previous month.
The increase in underbidding across the Durham Region reflects the trend in the Greater Toronto Area, which saw the weakest month for home buyer competition in March since Wahi began tracking bidding trends in 2022.
Last month in the GTA, 92 per cent of communities had homes selling below asking last month, while 6 per cent were overbid and 2 per cent had homes selling at asking.
The 3 Overbidding Neighbourhoods in March
Excluding neighbourhoods with fewer than five sales, there were only three neighbourhoods that were overbid. Two of the 40 neighbourhoods with homes selling above list price were in Whitby, and one was in Pickering. The three overbid neighbourhoods had a median overbid amount ranging from $50 to $40,000.
The Top-5 Underbidding Neighbourhoods in March
The five most underbid neighbourhoods were spread across the region. Clarington took first place with a median sold price of $800,000 and a median underbid amount of just below $30,000.
Generally speaking, the top underbidding neighbourhoods in the Durham Region tend to be more expensive, while the top overbidding neighbourhoods have comparatively lower list prices.
Methodology
At the end of each month, Wahi compares the differences between the median list and sold prices to determine whether neighbourhoods are in overbidding or underbidding territory, excluding those neighbourhoods with fewer than five transactions in a given month. In March there were 40 Durham neighbourhoods where there were at least five home sales. The top overbidding and underbidding neighbourhoods are ranked by the median overbid or underbid amount. The median overbid and underbid amounts are calculated by subtracting the list price from the sold price of each individual listing in a given neighbourhood. These are then ranked by the median of all subtractions and presented as the median overbid or underbid amount.
Note: Benjy Katchen is the CEO of Wahi, a digital real estate company that redefines the homebuying experience by putting more power into consumers’ hands.
You May Also Wish To Read
I’m being punished for tone, music and video selection: Leahy