Renfrew, Ont. house sells for $1 million over the asking price

High demand and soaring prices are making it hard to buy a home during the pandemic Michelle and Cory Bourgeois say they’ve lost out on more than 20 offers in Hamilton, Ont., with a budget of $1 million.

RENFREW — A house on River Road in Renfrew, Ont. was listed at just under $1.5 million.

The final sale price, $1.1 million over the asking price.

"It was kind of a chance of a lifetime property I think," says Craig Smith, real estate agent with Engel & Volkers. "It’s crazy, of course, to see a house to sell that far over. But it also speaks to the house itself and to the property."

The 2,500-square-foot house sits on 20 acres of land and 1,500 feet of waterfront.

The seller John, who doesn’t want to be identified, has been living here for more than 20 years.

"You can’t even do comparable when trying figure out what the value is, because there's just nothing else around here like it," says John. "We’ve done a lot of work on the house. And a lot of work on the property itself. So I’ve probably planted a thousand trees."

The housing market is showing no signs of slowing down. Year over year condo prices jumped 18 per cent in Ottawa. Residential property prices increased 35 per cent compared to last March.

Smith says he thinks prices will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

"I’ve been selling now for 25 years and I look back at how many times our market really goes down, but does it always catch up and exceed again? It always does."

The Renfrew farm house that was built in the 1850s was designated an Ontario century farm, more than 50 years ago.

"With that house there was a specialness to the house. It had history," says Smith.

John adds, "1967, the centennial year, it was an Ontario farm that had been owned an operated by the same family for over 100 years."

The house caught the attention of buyers from all over the country, with a bidding war including nine other offers.

The winning bidders were a family living five kilometres away.

"It had interest all the way from Vancouver, to be honest, on it," says Smith. "But they were local people."

"It was nice that it wasn’t some guy from Toronto," says John. "Or someone who wasn’t connected with the place and dropped in on an every third Saturday."

John says he will miss the house and the memories he’s shared with his family over the past 20 years. But he says, now is the perfect time for a new chapter in life.

"You just not going to find another place like this," says John. "So what's it worth? I guess it's worth a million over asking."