It’s Cold Outside

I recently attended the BILD forecast, which featured ATB’s Vice President, Mark Parsons, as a speaker. What stood out to me in his talk is that, not surprisingly, Canada needs more production, investment and exports. The Bank of Canada is not going to bail us out by reducing rates. He stated that the plan is to increase the interest rates in 2027. Whether this will come to fruition remains to be seen, but I do think it’s safe to assume that interest rates are as good as we’re going to see for a while. 

 

I’m curious as to whether these multiple offer situations will continue as we head into the spring market. I expect we’ll see a lot more inventory hitting the market, which may cool things off, but on the other hand, there are also a lot of buyers waiting for more product to hit the market. As for the townhouse market, we are finally seeing movement in what was a pretty stagnant period. I would still call it frail, but building momentum. Apartments sales continue to be very slow, and this sector of the market has seen the most dramatic decline in pricing. 

 

This year, I’m focused on delivering great strategy and strong marketing for my listings, but I am also focusing on my client’s active participation in the process. As I reflect on the smoothest transactions over the years, the consistent factors have been the client’s trust and their commitment to the process. I can bring all of the best tools and technology, but without client investment, the whole thing fails. This means being on board with the pricing, allowing us to prepare the home to have it show in its best light, and giving us license to be creative in our marketing and strategy. It elevates the collaboration and makes the process much more fun for everyone. And I think fun is really important for successful outcomes. Business is simply better this way.

 

In other news, I am really excited to announce that Pam Abar, our client coordinator whiz, is shedding her role to take up a new one as a licensed Realtor. She is smart, funny and tenacious. She has joined our real estate team and will be a huge asset to our group. For the first time in a very long time, I truly feel that our team is complete. Danielle continues to remain our administrator for all things, and without her, we’d be a house of cards. Cloé Behrman, Melissa Acierno and Caitlin Olsen are the other three capable agents in our group. Lisa continues to help us with our logistics, on the business and personal side of things. My Mom, Susan, Maker of our famous housewarming baskets, underwent open heart surgery in October. It was a serious setback, and her recovery has been challenging, but she has an amazing attitude. It’s truly inspiring to witness her return to strength, and I’m grateful her heart is now healthy. 

 

Have you read anything interesting lately? I’ve been reading Gabor Maté’s works, including The Myth of Normal and When the Body Says No. Both of these books challenge the prevailing narrative that illness and disease are primarily issues with the body. He sets out to show that the mind and body are deeply connected and that a lot of illness stems from either repressed emotions or the unhealthy expression of them. It’s a fascinating concept, and although it makes sense intuitively, our culture has a tendency to dismiss the idea that the mind is a major influencing factor in health. It’s funny too, because it’s widely known that exercise is the best antidepressant available. If you work your body, your mind clears. I can personally attest to this. I recently had my 300th class at F45, and if I wake up grumpy, a hard sweat nearly always cures it. So it makes sense that the reverse should be true. An unhealthy mind can make the body sick.