The early part of 2025 has been a whirlwind featuring the tariff threat from the United States, a provincial election, a federal election, and no economic certainty to be found.
These combined factors meant the real estate market wasn’t seeing many deals being made, as a “wait and see” approach set in.
Add in the horrific winter that Muskoka went through, with excessive snowfall and the spring ice storm that caused some properties to go weeks without power, and you have an undesirable recipe for a slow market.
Bob Clarke, owner of Royal LePage Lakes of Muskoka Clarke Muskoka Realty, says things will pick up eventually, but the extenuating circumstances caused a significant delay.
“We have lots of potential activity up here right now, but no one is really bringing much to the market,” explains Bob. “And it’s not because the properties aren’t there – people are just delaying for a range of reasons.”
Even those properties which would have been ready to list in the spring in a normal year now have to undergo a big clean-up process to be showing ready.
“Most of the properties I went to look at were a mess from the ice storm,” recalls Bob. “Our clients were delaying going to their cottage. And they really didn’t want to do anything with their property until they had a chance to have a look at it and clean it up.”
The good news is that with the warmer weather finally arriving in mid-May, properties were starting to hit the market.
“There are definitely signs of life in the market,” Bob said in May.
Professional realtorsThe delayed start to the 2025 spring season, which is generally known as a time when more listings come online, had other adverse impacts on the industry.
Bob says he’s noticed that only experienced, professional realtors like Clarke Muskoka Realty are remaining active; the casual and part-time players have mostly left. A significant number of those people left the industry because they didn’t do any deals last year.
“The number of agents that had no deals in the past year, or just one or two, is staggering,” he says. “There are no salaries in this field, so there is no way to make it work if you’re not doing business.”
The remaining realtors, though, are still doing deals even in a slow economy. Bob says the people who will continue to do well are those who are able to invest in their businesses, who continue to advertise and properly represent their clients and their properties.
“Pure agents, rather than dabblers, will keep doing more business,” he says. “This is already a field where the top 10 per cent of agents do about 90 per cent of the sales. That seems to hold true in almost any sector of the market.”
Those looking to buy and sell in Muskoka should be contacting local realtors with many years of experience in the region. It’s a vastly different situation than simply buying or selling a subdivision home in the city.
“We understand the complexities of zoning and bylaws in Muskoka and know what you can and can’t do on a property,” says Bob. “We know the geography and the waterways, which are vastly different from lake to lake, and town to township. This knowledge and experience are enormously beneficial when providing advice to our clients.”
Wise investmentsOne way or another, the real estate market survives and even thrives when other investments are negatively impacted by the economy.
Land has consistently been a superb asset, especially when the stock market is losing. As the tariffs continue to cause economic uncertainty throughout North America and beyond, the likelihood of a boost in real estate activity increases.
While the Dow Jones and other markets can see huge swings, rising or falling by 30 per cent or more in a short time, real estate will typically show a steady growth of five to ten percent regardless of what else is happening. Only extreme events such as the pandemic will result in huge movement in real estate values, says Bob.
“The reality is you don’t typically get the wild swings with land investments that can happened when there is instability in the stock market,” he says. “Over the decades, specifically in our areas, there is a proven return of around five per cent year over year. That’s a pretty solid investment.”
It’s this awareness and understanding of what’s taking place in the market, and in the municipality, that sets the top realtors apart from the rest. They provide their clients with the best advice, whether they’re buying or selling.
TEXT CHRIS OCCHIUZZI
