Industry All-Stars – Debbie Cosic, CEO and Founder, In2ition Realty

If you're looking to buy a home, but not sure what to make of housing supply, interest rates, affordability, the lingering effects of COVID… who better to help you sort it all out than those who specialize in the marketing and sales of new homes and condos?

We sat down with a select group of Industry All-Stars for our 2022 Builders' Annual for their insights and advice.

At In2ition Realty, we deal with pre-construction real estate, and my advice for prospective homebuyers is to consider buying now rather than waiting until the new year. Right now, there’s a window of opportunity, with prices having settled, builders offering financial and other incentives, and closings as far away as five years for condominiums and 2.5 years for lowrise homes. You can attempt to play the mortgage interest-prediction game, but in two to five years, who knows what that will be? It’s not all that long ago that interest rates were in the double digits. If you buy pre-construction now, by the time you take possession, rates may have settled into the 10-year average of slightly less than four per cent. Time will tell, but I don’t think we’ll see the low, low pandemic rates again in our lifetime.

Steady sales

Contrary to what you may have read or heard in the media, pre-construction sales aren’t lagging. Multiple launches we held in the spring have already met the 70 per cent of sales they need for banks to finance them to begin construction. Taking a few months to get to that point is normal. At In2ition Realty, we’re selling steadily, especially to investors who recognize good deals when they see them. Real estate is traditionally a lucrative investment and is much easier to understand and manage than stocks. Investors know that if they ride out real estate cycles, in the long run, they’ll be ahead of the game.

If you’re waiting for new home and condo prices to fall, you’ll be disappointed. Builders cannot lower prices because of the costs of land acquisition, construction materials and labour. Prices may very well go up in the new year. Add to that the fact that demand exceeds supply, and especially with immigration fueling the demand, there is even more reason to buy sooner rather than later. In addition, Ontario’s unemployment rate is less than six per cent, and there aren’t enough people to fill jobs in several segments of the economy. This translates to a lot of Ontarians feeling stable enough financially to own homes, adding to the demand – which is not likely to change anytime soon. Sitting on the sidelines is fine, but we could go on for decades with this more normal scenario. Whether you buy now or wait, consider pre-construction for amazing value.