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Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 3,681 transactions in the first half of April, down seven per cent compared to 3,955 during the same period last year. “In lock-step with the favorable March results, resale housing market conditions in the first half of April were markedly improved compared to the winter time,” said TREB President Maureen O’Neill.
“Households that were on the sidelines at the beginning of the year are now taking advantage of lower interest rates and lower home prices.” The average price for MLS® sales was $383,161, down four per cent from $399,117 last year.
“The average home price in the GTA stabilized as resale market conditions tightened over the past two months,” according to Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “Existing home sales increased relative to new listings.”
April Mid-Month Stats
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board
Kirby Chan
Sales Representative
Forest Hill Real Estate
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008
By the way… I’m never too busy for your referrals.
TORONTO, March 19, 2009 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® announced 2,565 transactions in the first half of March compared to 3,183 during the same period last year. The annual rate of MLS® sales decline was the smallest in five months.
Mid-month March MLS® sales increased compared to the 2,044 sales experienced in the first half of February.
MLS® sales follow a recurring seasonal trend, with transactions generally increasing between January and May and then decreasing between June and December.
“As we move into the spring market, it appears that we are seeing stronger demand for ownership housing in the Greater Toronto Area,” said TREB President Maureen O’Neill. “Buyers are reacting to the market’s strong foundation of affordability.”
The average price for MLS® sales was $365,499 compared to $385,405 last year.
“Affordability has improved over the past few months due to a combination of lower home prices, near record lows for mortgage rates and rising earnings,”1 according to Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
1Average weekly earnings for the Toronto CMA, as reported by Statistics Canada, have been rising on a year-over-year basis over the past year. For example, in February 2009, average weekly earnings rose by approximately 2.5 per cent compared to February 2008.
Kirby Chan
Sales Representative
Forest Hill Real Estate
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008
By the way… I’m never too busy for your referrals.
The average GTA price in December 2008 was $361,415. During the same period last year, the Toronto MLS system recorded an average of $394,931, and in December of 2006 overall GTA prices averaged $336,217.
For December 2008 recorded sales were 2,577 down from 4,646 sales recorded during the same period last year. A 45% drop in sales.
FOR SELLERS
There was a 45% increase in active listings and 29% increase with Days on the Market. We are definitely in a buyers market now. But for Sellers, there is nothing to fear, because with my promotional plans your house will definitely perform above these averages. Even though values have dropped, the average prices have stabilized and still remain above 2006 numbers.
Contact me and I can help you sell your home at the maximum value using the full extraction method.
For 2008 as a whole, prices averaged $379,347, compared to the $376,236 recorded in 2007, and the $351,941 average recorded in 2006. Sales were 74,552, compared to the 93,193 recorded in 2007, and the 83,084 record during 2006.
FOR BUYERS
As the above chart shows, sale numbers have been steadily declining since Mid-2008 and the active listing supply is high. We are in a buyers market and it greatly benefits the first time home buyer. This is the best time to buy low and sell high in the future. Real estate is a long term investment, so start early and invest.
Contact me and I can help you locate your dream home.
Kirby Chan
Real Estate Sales Representative @ Re/Max
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008
Nice headline right?
If you thought you’ve seen it before, than you must have seen the Front Page of Tuesday’s Globe and Mail. The Sub-heading mentions an 11 per cent decline in prices and a 44 per cent drop in Ontario housing sales in large RED print, based on the December 15th press release issued by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The most important part of the article is at the bottom.
CORRECTION: “The national average resale home price did not fall by 20 per cent after the onset of the last recession in the early 1990s. After a retreat in 1990, the national price rebounded for a few years and then fluctuated. Incorrect information was published Tuesday.”
Don’t you love it when the media exaggerates to sell newspapers and advertisements? Reminds me of a quote “Numbers don’t lie, people do”. I wonder why they did not put the correction on the front page with a BIG BOLD Heading.
I would like to share with you a story told by Michael Polzler from Re/Max that really hits the bulleye with what the media can do.
It is of a hot dog vendor in Chicago who sold the very best hot dogs by the side of the road. His business was booming, people loved his hot dogs, and his business steadily increases month after month. The man loved his business and believed in the need to provide great food at a great price.
This man was so busy advertising and selling his hot dogs and making lots of money, that he didn’t even have time to read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Consequently, he never heard a word about a predicted recession or the need to cut back to save for the potential economic slowdown. As long as he continued to offer his delicious hot dogs, his customers bought them. He kept selling, and they kept buying.
Then one day his college educated son told him that an economic recession was surely coming. His son told him that people wouldn’t have enough money to buy his hot dogs. The successful hot dog vendor believed this, so on his son’s advice, he cut back on his advertising. Additionally, he started ordering less supplies and product, because after all, people would be cutting back soon.
He even went so far as to take down many of the billboards that lead to his roadside stand. And sure enough, people stopped coming to him. People stopped buying his hot dogs, and he eventually went broke.
Then he thought to himself. “How smart my son is in predicting this.”
The lesson is to not be influenced by what you read in the newspapers or hear on your television. It’s true that market conditions have changed, but human nature has not. Real estate is one of the largest investments people will make in their lifetime. It is also one of the safest. Get out and spread the word. If you bought a home in 1980 worth $67,000, that property is valued at over $300,000 today – an increase of 350 per cent and the profit is capital gains exempt. It’s no wonder that Canada has one of the highest home ownership rates in the world, at close to 70 per cent.
Kirby Chan
Real Estate Sales Representative @ Re/Max
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008
The following is a Market Report for 2008 and Outlook for 2009 for the Greater Toronto Area. It was prepared by Re/Max using TREB data. I agree with almost everything except for the part about house values remaining stable for 2008. Even though as a whole the average price of real estate in GTA has risen, the data has been wrongly interpreted. If you’ve read my previous post about luxury homes, you’ll see that luxury homes sales above $1.5 Million has been stronger than the rest of the market. The rise in average price of homes is a result of more sales in the higher price properties. I delved deeper into the data and looked at the average price in each segment. The result? Each segment has had a drop in price. Instead of a drop in sales and rise in prices, in reality it is a drop in sales and prices.
Please note this report was prepared before the layoffs at GM’s Oshawa plant. The rate of job growth may be on the negative side now.
Click below to read the Market Outlook Report.
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My blog is – http://kirbychan.wordpress.com
My website is – www.KirbyChan.com
My email is – info@kirbychan.com
I am a member of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) www.torontomls.net. I use Rogers wireless service and use bell internet service at home. I use gmail, yahoo mail and hotmail. I have a PS3 from playstation and a wii from nintendo. I drive a Mercedes Benz B200 from mercedes-benz. I live in a detached house with four bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. My basement is unfinished. My wife and I renovated our kitchen last year. Other minor renovations were interior paint, light fixtures, cornice mouldings, built-in cabinetry in Laundry and wallpaper from farrow & ball and romo fabrics. Please vist http://decor8blog.com/ for great interior design ideas. I would like my website and blog to be as popular as http://www.topagent.com/ and http://blog.topagent.com/
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Kirby Chan
Real Estate Sales Representative @ Re/Max
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008
