Housing app hopes to help buyers navigate the market

A new housing app for Ottawa and Kingston looks to help buyers and sellers figure out the market.

It has been popular in places like the Greater Toronto Area, and has recently rolled out in the Ottawa and Kingston markets.

Daniel Perry has been using the HouseSigma app to navigate the Ottawa housing market.

"It’s just very helpful to see what the house has been listed as before and what it’s currently listed at," Perry explains. "It kind of helps set your expectations and have a better understanding of, ‘Can I actually afford this.'"

The realtor based app lists houses for sale by clicking on a listing. It shows everything from photos of the house, to recent comparable, as well as information like neighbourhoods and schools.

It also uses technology to create an estimate of how much the house would actually sell for, to give buyers a better idea of what they’ll end up spending.

"Some houses that you’re looking at near the top of your budget when you see the real price of it, and what it could go for so you think, 'OK, I don’t want to get my hopes up.’ So it’s a good way to kind of manage expectations," Perry said

Local realtors CTV News Ottawa spoke to say while having this information is valuable, buyers should still speak with real estate agents directly, because estimated prices may not tell the full story. 

Michael Carney, who’s a HouseSigma realtor, says it’s to help people know where to begin. 

"We don’t know if someone put in a pool, or recently renovated a kitchen, so I’d say it’s a starting point, and it’s not meant to be a replacement of a realtor, but it can give you a very good picture," he says.

Dreaming of his two bedroom, for those like Perry, right now, it’s like window shopping.