SCOTT HODGINS

WINDSOR, Ont. -- After years of slumping prices, power sales and houses sitting on the market for months, it seems unbelievable, but it’s true — bidding wars are returning to Windsor real

estate.

“It’s interesting how this is developing along. Some of my salespeople are hard pressed to explain why it happens when it does,” said Frank Binder, the founder of Royal LePage Binder Real Estate.

“We’re happy the demand is there and it’s returning to a balanced market.”

Not just any home is attracting multiple offers, however. The ones that do tend to fall into two categories: houses that are in excellent condition and houses that are staggeringly cheap.

There may be a lot of real estate on the market, but updated, move-in condition homes are in short supply.

When one does come up for sale, frustrated buyers who have already passed on dozens of deteriorating properties pounce.

Mary Morrison, an agent with Valente Real Estate, said she’s been involved in four multiple offer sales since September.

At a brand new subdivision of semi-detached houses on Cobblestone Crescent in east Windsor, she said two houses next door to each other sold on the same day, with one getting two offers and $500 more than the asking price.

“There are a lot of homes on the market, but a lot of those that are on the market, they’re just not good. So any builder that’s building a nice home, they’re going to sell it. Basically, the supply’s not there of nice homes,” she said.

At the other end of the spectrum, Morrison said the real estate office is inundated with calls from people looking for fixer-uppers at rock-bottom prices so they can renovate and flip for a profit. For example, a house on Louis Avenue close to Caesars Windsor recently received multiple offers and sold for about $32,000, she said.

“We are getting constant calls from out-of-towners, a lot of investors from Toronto, constant calls from people asking for houses under $40,000. They’re grabbing them,” she said.

Morrison said many of the people looking for nice Windsor homes at a good price are retirees attracted by the climate.

“For the last three years we saw everybody leaving and now new people are coming back,” she said. “A lot of people who are moving here are snowbirds, basically going down to Florida in the wintertime and staying in Windsor in the summer.”

As people return to the city, they have to contend with the damage done by the poor economy over the last few years. People in financial trouble tend to delay expensive home repairs and by the time they have to sell, their house can be in dire condition.

“A lot of people have lost jobs. Windsor’s gone through a lot of that. Where do you put your money? You don’t put your money in your house. You just try to make do with what you can and try to suffer through,” Binder said. “Then suddenly you’re faced with an economic downturn and now what do you have to do? Well, you have to sell the house you’ve been in for a long time and it’s not in the best shape.”

Binder said real estate statistics show Windsor is moving away from a buyer’s market and returning to a balance, with realtors selling roughly the same number of homes as are put up for sale in a given time period. Extremely low interest rates are also coaxing people to jump in and buy, he said.

It may still be a far cry from the climbing values and fast-paced sales common in other Canadian cities, but Binder said the return to multiple offers is an encouraging sign.

“You’ve got cheaper financing, you’ve got an adequate supply and you’ve got good demand. I think people are coming back to the real estate market with some confidence now and that’s a good thing.”

cbrownell@windsorstar.com or Twitter.com/clabrow