Government Declares State of Emergency - Real Estate Still Essential
Effective immediately for at least 28 days, the province is implementing a second province-wide state of emergency, putting further restrictions on retail hours and gathering sizes to combat a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases. Real estate still remains an essential service, and you can still conduct business following all public health directives and protocols.
What Does This Mean for Real Estate?
- REAL ESTATE CONTINUES TO BE AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE AND WE CONTINUE TO FOLLOW ALL PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOLS DURING SHOWINGS AND IN-PERSON BUSINESS.
- As we continue to satisfy our ethical duties to our clients, we conduct as much business as possible virtually before participating in an in-person meeting or showing.
- Our real estate office remains open and continues to follow the government’s screening requirements for workplaces.
- Open houses remain prohibited.
- We provide our clients and our listings with all the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) needed, such as sanitizer, masks and gloves.
- We space out showings and limit the number of people at each showing (i.e. keeping showings to one family group in the property at a time, and limit to the contract parties only).
The State of Emergency does impact real estate in two ways:
- Short-term rentals for recreational purposes are effectively closed as of January 12, 2021. If a booking was made prior to January 12, it is permitted to go forward.
- Renovations started before January 12 will be permitted to continue, but those that have not started are not permitted to begin. The government has not indicated when the new measures will be lifted.
Additional Measures Impacting Real Estate
- Non-essential construction is further restricted, including below-grade construction, exempting survey.
- The government is exploring all options available to put a temporary residential evictions moratorium in place to ensure Ontarians are not forced to leave their homes under the new state of emergency and will have more to say in the coming days.
We continue to do your part in ensuring the safety of our team, clients and the public. We have worked hard to adapt our operations to allow real estate markets to continue to function efficiently while minimizing public health risks.
Source: Toronto Regional Real Estate Board
Whether you've just sold your place and need to buy a new one right away, you're in the last stages of a purchase and are wondering what to do, or you need guidance figuring out what to do once the storm blows over, you can always count on us for support
How is the real estate market going to be impacted by the COVID-19 situation? No one knows for sure but here's a good place to start
If you were already planning on selling your home this spring or if you have experienced changes in your personal circumstances that is necessitating a sale, know that there are some useful things you can be doing to prep your home while in quarantine.
Some are predicting that this current 'medically-induced' slowdown in real estate may provide a real opportunity for first time Buyers to jump into the market and take advantage of possible softer prices before things heat up again.
As we continue through this pandemic, I have this consistent thought running through my head. For many of us, this crisis has forced us to change direction. Some of my friends are on the verge of losing businesses, have lost jobs, investments & loved ones
COVID-19 has definitely changed how we conduct our daily real estate business. All of our team members are working from home and all meetings are by phone or video. We are focused on how we can adapt our business practices and, in some cases, temporarily