Yesterday I went to a listing appointment in Bowmanville. As usual I had gone to see the home a couple of days earlier even though I was very familiar with the area and the style of the home. During the walk through I thought to myself this would be easy to price as it was a subdivision home and lots of similar homes in the neighborhood.

For my CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) I selected 4 homes that had sold this year and were very similar to the subject property as well as a few that are presently listed for sale (One of them has been on the market for 125 days and listed for $295,000). My analysis showed a list price of $270,000 to $275,000 would be a reasonable price to list the home for. The potential seller hit the roof when he heard me suggest this price. He indicated that another agent came in and was prepared to list the home for over $300,000 and implied that I was trying to sell the house from under him. I suggested that we review the comparables one more time to see if the homes that I used and sold this year in the price range that I suggested were much different from his house. He refused. I asked who the other agent was that suggested a price of over $300,000 for his house. He refused to tell me the name!!! At this point I decided to leave before I was thrown out of the house. I am watching the MLS listings with great anticipation to see if any agent would list this home for $300,000 or possibly more if the seller gets his way.

Most sellers have accepted the fact that the market has shifted and they have to be reasonable with their asking price others however have their head in the sand and think that they can fool the buyers or the buyer's agent.

The average sold to ask ratio dropped dramatically towards the end of last year as people were listing their homes too high and the buyers were not paying the over inflated price. This ratio is however on the rise as the sellers and their agents are being more realistic and accepting the new market conditions and reflecting it in their pricing.

-- Masood Vatandoust