Welcome to TheTorontoRealEstate.com Sign in | Help

Toronto Real Estate

A great resource for the buyers and sellers of Real Estate in Toronto and GTA.

Tags

News

  • As an experienced Toronto Real Estate agent it is my pleasure to welcome you to my website and share my expertise and experience. Whether you are interested in buying, selling or renting a home you will find a wealth of resources here to assist you. Most notably the Toronto MLS Real Estate Listings are one of the best sources of information available to home buyers. Simply fill out the form below and I will find and email you all the relevant resale homes, condos, bank sales, estate sales, fixer uppers, power of sale homes, foreclosures and any unique property that you might be looking for. I will personally go through each and every listing that matches your buying criteria to bring you the most suitable choices available. From new homes to resale homes to condos I would be delighted to help you find your perfect real estate anywhere in the Toronto and surrounding areas. Please feel free to view the latest list of Toronto Homes for Sale and don’t hesitate to call me if you have questions about a particular listing or would like a complimentary home buyers or sellers consultation and evaluation. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Tom Sachdeva 647-299-4529

CLICK HERE FOR MY WEBSITE

Bungalow For Sale in Highland Creek

55 Zaph Ave front 1

• 1 bath, 2 bdrm bungalow - MLS® $399,000 CAD

 -  Premium Highland Creek Bungalow On A Quiet Street , Mature Trees, No Traffic & Serenity Of The Area Tranfers You From The Hustle Of The City, Still Minutes To Ttc, 401, Library,Walk To School-Public & Catholic. Ideal For First Time Buyers And 'Super Lot For Builders'. Huge Family Room, Living And Dining. Basement Has A Recreation Area Plus 2 Bedrooms.2 Hrs Notice For Showings.Survey Attached.
Extras: Gas Stove, Washer,Dryer, Gas Burner And Equipment, Wood Stove As Is Condition, Basement Freezer,All Electrical Light Fixtures. Highland Creek Location Is Surrounded By Custom Built Homes In An Upscale Neighbourhood.Rental Potential As Well

Property information

Call Tom at 647-299-4529 to view all homes for sale in Highland Creek

Stouffville Home for sale

18 farmington dr front 2

• 3 bath, 3 bdrm double story - $449,900 CAD - Great Value in Stouffvill

 -  Brand New Home in Stouffville , 3 Bedroom with 3 Washrooms, Attach garage . See and view anytime , close anytime.

Property information

Call Tom at 647-299-4529 to view

See more properties for sale in Stouffville

Toronto Home Prices up 8.5% mid January 2012

In the start of 2012 the whole online and print media was spelling doom for real estate and after 2 weeks all the major banks have decreased their lending rates to a historic lows , but have there qualifying criteria changed , NO  . Yesterday Toronto Real Estate Board came up the mid January numbers and the Toronto Home Prices are up by 8.5% , decide for yourself are we ever going to see a bubble burst ? I highly doubt we are in any quagmire.

good news or bad news

The Toronto Real Estate Board's press release is below.

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 1,506 sales through the TorontoMLS® system during the first two weeks of January 2012. This result represented a six per cent increase compared to the first 14 days of January 2011. New listings were also up on a year-over-year basis, but by a lesser 3.7 per cent.

“The market didn’t miss a beat after the holiday season, with robust sales growth continuing and sellers’ market conditions remaining in place. Strong competition between buyers continued to push the average selling price higher in the Greater Toronto Area relative to a year ago,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Richard Silver.

The average selling price during the first two weeks of 2012 was $444,473 – up by more than 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

“Prices were up for most major home categories in the GTA in comparison to last year. The strongest price growth was for single-detached homes in the City of Toronto. The average price of singles in the 416 area code was up by 22 per cent year-over-year, pointing to a greater weighting of higher end detached homes changing hands compared to the same time last year,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

toronto real estate

Please call Tom Sachdeva at 647-299-4529  if you plan to buy or sell real estate in Toronto.

Remedies for Real Estate Remorse

A very interesting article by Tara Nicole-Nicholson of Trulia about Remedies for Real Estate Remorse.

With a transaction as large in dollar amount and life-changing impact as the purchase or sale of a home, experiencing some level of remorse - second-guessing your decision, or even wishing you hadn’t made it - is par for the course.

Toronto Real Estate



Contrary to popular belief, real estate remorse is not strictly the province of buyers. Experience has taught me that on bed the night the contract is signed, the buyer lies awake thinking they could have gotten the place for less - while the seller does the same exact thing across town, thinking they could have gotten more. (Both tend to ring up their agents; that’s how I know this is true!)

But there’s a deeper flavor of real estate remorse that doesn’t go away. It can even haunt a buyer or seller years down the road as they wake up every single day for years on end, regretting their choice of home or mortgage - or the choice to sell or walk away. Whether you’re already suffering from it, or you’re still in active buying or selling mode and want to avoid falling victim, here are my eight cures for real estate remorse.

1. Before you get started, write out your vision of the life you want to live after you close the deal. It’s easy to get distracted once you’re in the weeds of the actual transaction, losing sight of what’s really important to you - what motivated you to start the process in the first place. So, before you get started, put pen to paper and write out exactly what sort of lifestyle you are trying to create - financially and otherwise - by taking this path.

Make sure you include your wants, needs, deal-makers and deal-breakers.

Then, take that notebook or printout with you into meetings with agents and mortgage pros, and even return to it throughout the process to course-correct your decisions, if necessary. For example, buyers should revisit their vision document and compare it against the home they are in contract to buy before removing contingencies. This is the easiest way to avoid buying a home you could have predicted would not fulfill your needs.

2. Ask yourself: how does this decision make you feel? We tend to approach real estate decisions from a place of reason and logic, but sometimes that means we can reason our way right into agreeing to something because it’s easier than sorting out our differences with our mate, or because we’ve been underwater for so long that walking away seems like the only option we still have. The neuroscientists say that the cells in our bodies - and especially our gut - might actually be ‘smarter’ than those in our brains when it comes to making good decisions, as they haven’t been reading the paper or influenced by that guy that shouts all the time on the cable business channels.

So, before you make a decision, weigh your alternatives and see how they make you feel. Does the idea of living in this home, even though it’s a fixer beyond anything you expected to buy, make you feel peaceful, expansive or secure? Does the idea of living in the gated community of your wife’s dreams make you feel constricted, anxious or burdened? Does the prospect of short selling vs. staying put and getting a second job make you feel excited and free or on edge? Often, your intuition and physical senses provide the best clues to the right decision - the decision that will not result in remorse after the fact.

3. Manage your own mindset. Don’t fall into the trap of constant discontent. You might have absolutely hated everything about renting, from your landlord to your neighbors, and used that as motivation to save up to buy your own home. But if you did, and now every single thing about owning (lenders, lawnmowers and such) makes you crazy, you might just be falling into that too-common fallacy of always thinking the grass is greener on the other side.

So cut it out. If you truly want to change the way you feel, stop bonding with others over your collective, perceived miseries and, instead, practice feeling gratitude for 10 things a day. I’m trying to list 10 things I’m grateful for every day for a full month without repeating a single thing! When you practice gratitude intensively, it is much more difficult to dwell in regret and discontent.

4. Recognize hypotheticals as hallucinations. Hypotheticals, by definition, are the opposite of what is real. So living in a hypothetical world of how much you probably could have gotten the place for, or how much more you might have been able to squeeze out of the buyer if you’d bargained harder after the deal has been done is nothing but fantasy and crazy-making, all wrapped up in an efficient little depressing package.

Even more crazy-making: wondering what you could have offered for that house that would have beaten the other 20 offers. If you are a buyer who has repeatedly been outbid, the wiser practice is to ask your agent to go back and pull the actual sale prices of the homes you lost after they close escrow, to give yourself a good reality check and leverage the experience to help you have a smarter, more successful house hunt going forward.

5. Be open and willing to have difficult conversations during the deal. Real estate transactions make some milquetoast types morph into wheeler-dealers, but more often they turn gregarious people pleasers into anxiety-ridden, fear-driven eggshell steppers. Some people who are happy to overshare about virtually anything on Facebook will do everything possible to avoid confrontation - especially when it comes to money matters.

If you’re the type that finds negotiating excruciating and will do anything to avoid having a conversation about money, do yourself and your household finances a huge favor and just suspend that during this deal. If something doesn’t look right on your contract or you don’t understand something in the loan paperwork, ask and keep asking until it is fixed or you do understand. If you agree to buy a place as-is and as-disclosed (with contingencies, of course), but the inspections and repair bids are overwhelming and you’re afraid you might be getting in over your head, don’t let the fear of losing the place stop you from discussing potential compromises with the seller or even talk with your agent or co-buyer about the possibility of backing out of the deal.

6. Sit still before you start the demolition. One of the most common forms of remorse I’ve seen is the remorse homeowners have when they start remodeling a place too soon. The best practice is to live in a place for a few months first, observing patterns in the natural light, traffic, noise and even how your family uses the various areas of space in the home before you start tearing walls down and turning windows into french doors.

7. Do your own numbers first. Homeowners who have remorse about getting in over their heads, financially, often end up in that spot because they took someone else’s word about what they could afford, rather than running their own household financials first, then telling their professionals what their maximum spend would be, monthly and otherwise. Make sure you go into the home buying process clear on what is a sustainable range of monthly housing costs for you and your family based on the total picture of your income and expenses (including your future plans and expenses banks don’t consider, like private school tuition, travel, etc.), rather than expecting someone else to figure this out for you.

8. Get systematic about your options for resolving the remorse. If you find yourself in a position where you’re experiencing deep remorse for having bought a particular home, it’s time to stop wallowing and start acting to improve your experience in the home. Systematically list the things that make you crazy about the place. I’ve seen the most long-term buyer’s remorse result from (a) unexpected neighborhood nuisances like noise levels and being located on a street that is busier than the buyer originally thought, and (b) a home with features and condition problems that are worse or more costly to repair than the buyer expected, like the flights of stairs are too numerous or the windows too drafty.

So, make a list of the things that are causing you remorse, then get clear on all your options - and don’t limit your thinking about what those options might be. Maybe you need to plan out the fixes you need, and budget for them, for the next few years out, and start tackling one every month. I love my home and my neighborhood, but was driven to distraction for months by the fact that I could hear the subway at night. I’d already installed dual paned windows! My sanity and sleep have been saved by the investment of $10 every couple of months in - you guessed it - earplugs from the drug store.

On the other end of the spectrum, I knew a woman who insisted she could afford to neither sell nor fix her home, she was so upside down, and so stayed remorsefully put in her leaky, fixer-upper home for years before she finally talked with an agent, who was able to get the bank to green light a short sale lickety split.

Agents: They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. How do you help buyers and sellers prevent remors

Tom Sachdeva - Real Estate Agent
 

2012 Resolutions for buying Toronto Real Estate

Jan 2012 and it is the time of the year when everybody makes resolutions .

Lets discuss how we can stay on track to fulfill that resolution for buying Toronto Real Estate

New year resolution

When you decide to take the plunge into home ownership, it can be overwhelming.

From the slow process of saving for a down payment, to exhilarating weekends of open houses and viewing appointments, to the stress of putting in an offer and negotiating the right price – there’s a lot on your mind!

But long before you start seriously looking for your first home, you should already have a realistic (and detailed) monthly budget to guide you. Here are a few things to consider:

Start by paying yourself first
When I started my property search, I knew that I did not want to give up my $700 per month contribution to my RRSP. The idea of owning my home is a big deal, but retiring early and comfortably is my most important financial goal. So, keeping that in mind, I started by subtracting $700 from my net income. Then, I subtracted amounts for travel, emergencies, property tax and home repairs, auto insurance and general savings. The money that was left over after all of my savings goals were met, ended up being my monthly budget – and what I based my mortgage off of.

By paying myself first, and creating a budget around my savings goals, I am able to save almost 50 per cent of my net income each month.

Owning a home means more expenses
When you own your own home, you pay whenever anything breaks. You don’t have the luxury of calling a landlord when your stove breaks down, or when the dishwasher starts to leak. It is crucial to have the room in your budget to save for these unexpected and costly expenses.

Additional monthly expenses associated with home ownership can also include maintenance fees, property tax, utilities, home insurance, and household miscellaneous expenses.

Be realistic
Crunch the numbers to see what you can afford before look for a real estate agent. Take into account your current income (not what you hope to be making in the future, and not any irregular income either), and don’t forget to factor in bigger annual expenses, like your sun vacation every January, ski pass, car insurance, or membership dues.

It can be incredibly tempting to stretch yourself when it comes to buying property. Especially when your realtor takes you to see listings that seem much nicer than what is in your comfortable price range. While it’s the realtor’s job to show you all of your options, it is up to you to convey to them what your budget is going to be. And once you have decided on that figure, be firm with it. As a first-time homeowner, your first place is just a starting point, and most likely will not be your dream home.

Fixed expenses are your choice
Most of your monthly expenses – like your mortgage amount, maintenance fees, internet/cable, and utilities – are considered fixed expenses when you create a budget. But in reality, you get to decide how much you spend on each of these items before you commit to them. Don’t like the cost of cable TV, or think those condo maintenance fees are too high? Look elsewhere if you don’t want to pay for them.

Plan to get ahead
If living a debt-free life is a priority for you, then paying more than the mortgage minimum will be key.

When I had narrowed my property choices down to two options, I had a big decision to make. Would I choose the 2-bedroom townhouse that cost approximately $250 more per month in mortgage and maintenance fees? Or would I choose the 1-bedroom townhouse with lower payments? I could comfortably afford both, but in the end, I decided to go with the less expensive 1-bedroom townhouse and opted to increase my monthly mortgage payments instead.

By choosing the accelerated bi-weekly option and topping up each of those payments by $50, I will be eliminating almost 4 years off my mortgage. And the extra money I have in my budget due to choosing the less expensive 1-bedroom home will mean that I can pay down my mortgage that much faster by putting down a lump sum payment every year on my anniversary date.

Track every penny
For the first few months of home ownership, it’s a good idea to track every penny you spend. This might seem a little excessive, but it will give you an accurate snapshot of your spending habits as a homeowner. As with anything, the more effort you put in, the greater the benefit and the result.

Call Tom Sachdeva at 647-299-4529 if buying Toronto Real Estate is also your resolution.

GTA REALTORS® Release Monthly ResaleMarket Figures

TORONTO, January 5, 2012 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,718 transactions through the TorontoMLS® system in December 2011. The December result capped off the second-best year on record under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries. Total sales for 2011 amounted to 89,347 – up four per cent in comparison to 2010.

“Low borrowing costs kept Buyers confident in their ability to comfortably cover their mortgage payments along with other major housing costs,” said TREB President Richard Silver. “If Buyers had not been constrained by a shortage of listings over the past 12 months, we would have been flirting with a new sales record in the Greater Toronto Area,” added Silver.

The average selling price in December was $451,436 – up four per cent compared to December 2010. For all of 2011, the average selling price was $465,412, an increase of eight per cent in comparison to the average of $431,276 in 2010.

“Months of inventory remained below the pre-recession norm in 2011. Very tight market conditions meant substantial competition between Buyers and strong upward pressure on selling prices,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

“TREB’s baseline forecast for 2012 is for an average price of $485,000, representing a more moderate four per cent annual rate of price growth. This baseline view is subject to a heightened degree of risk given the uncertain global economic outlook,” continued Mercer.

Summary of TorontoMLS® Sales and Average Price

December 1-31

2011

2010

Sales

Ave. Price

Sales

Ave. Price

City of Toronto "416"

1,948

$474,270

1,818

$463,580

Rest of GTA "905"

2,770

$435,378

2,468

$411,383

GTA

4,718

$451,436

4,286

$433,523

http://www.TheTorontoRealEstate.com

2 Story Home For Sale in Danforth Village - East York

East York Home for Sale

• 2 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story - $499,000 CAD - Totally Renovated

 -  Prime East York Semi Detached, 2 Story Home On A Extra Deep Lot (169Ft.). Generous Principle Rooms, Excellent Opportunity To Own A Fully Renovated House With A Finished Basement, New Windows. Great Open Concept, Modern Kitchen With Granite Counter Top. Pot Lights Throughout The Main Floor, Please, Please Don't Miss Out In This Opportunity.
Extras: Stainless Steel Appliances Including Fridge, Stove, B/I Dishwasher, B/I Microwave, Washer & Dryer (All High End Appliances) All Elfs.

Property information

Call Tom at 647-299-4529 to view this listing

Click here to search for more active Listings

Toronto Housing sales remain strong.

Toronto Star has this article in the 15 Nov paper and reiterate the fact that we are in a very strong territory in residential real estate. There has never been a better time than today if you are first time home buyer .

There may be widespread economic panic in the rest of the world, but Toronto’s housing market keeps plowing ahead unscathed:

Consider these numbers:

$478,137: The average price of a house in the GTA in October, up almost 8 per cent from $443,633 at this time last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Board.

$362,899: The national average price of a house, up 5.5 per cent from October, 2010.

16: The number of bids Monday on a Cleveland St. detached house in Toronto’s Yonge-Davisville area which sold for $146,000 over its $839,000 asking price.

“There was no shortage of headline news in October about global financial market volatility and economic uncertainty, but it doesn’t appear to have dampened homebuyers’ spirits,” said Gary Morse, president of the Canadian Real Estate Board in explaining why resale house buying activity picked up again in October after a strong September.

Realtors say they continue to see “cautiously optimistic” homebuyers buoyed by continuing low interest rates and Canada’s resiliency through the global economic crisis.

The only slight downturn appears to be in the high-end market — homes listed for more than $2 million — where both buyers and sellers tend to be more heavily employed in sectors with closer ties to global stock markets.

While a substantive increase in new listings has helped ease the bidding wars and upward pressure on prices that plagued the Toronto market in the spring, realtors say, competition remains fierce in some prime neighbourhoods.

Midtown realtor Richard Byford says he was “pleasantly surprised” to see about 70 couples, many with babes in arms, file through a weekend open house at the three-bedroom Cleveland St. home in Davisville Village he had listed for $839,000. But his jaw dropped when 16 officers were registered as of Monday.

“Low interest rates are driving a lot of it (continued demand despite the economic uncertainty) because it’s seen as free money,” says Byford.

Almost 400,000 homes have changed hands via the MLS system in Canada so far this year, up 1.8 per cent from the same period last year.

The average price nationally for a home stood at $362,899, up 5.5 per cent from October 2010.

SOLD-2 Story For Sale in Toronto - Parkwoods-Donalda

C2238732

• 2 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story - MLS® $359,900 CAD - Best Price for Toronto

 -  High Demand Location!2Storey 3-Bedroom Home In Desirable Area. Minutes To 401& Dvp,Public Transit-Shopping. Walkable To Schools, Libraries, Parks, Ravines And Many Other Amenities. Situated On A Quiet Crescent With Little Traffic, This Classic Mid-Century Home Features Solid Steel Beam And Brick Construction. Has Received A Good Inspection Report. Unusual North-East Orientation Fills Each Room Withnatural Light All Day. Spacious Principal Rooms
Extras: All Electrical Light Fixtures, All Window Coverings, Hot Water Tank (Rental). Washer And Dryer As Is. Clean Kitchen And 2 Washrooms.

Property information

Please click here to view more properties for sale

2 Story Home For Sale in Ajax,Ontario

E2238488

• 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story - MLS® $294,000 CAD - Stunning

 -  S T U N N I N G - Completely Renovated - Thousands Spent - New Kitchen-New Washrooms - Fireplace In Great Room With Walk Out To Back Yard- Pot Lights-Aceess From Garage To Inside-Berber Carpet In The Stairs And Bedrooms, Hardwood Floor In The Basement-No Disappointments- 2 Minutes To 401- 7 Minutes To Go - Ideal For Toronto Communters And First Time Buyers.Deck In The Backyard.
Extras: Fridge,Stove,Washer,Dryer,Dishwasher,All Existing Light Fixtures . No Survey Available

Property information

Call Tom at 647-299-4529 to view this property.

SOLD-Stunning Home For Sale in Morningside Heights

37 Solstice - Front

• 2,089 sq. ft., 3 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story - MLS® $549,000 CAD - Best price for the area

  S T U N N I N G - Homes Like These Rarely Come On The Market - Pride Of Ownership - Freshly Painted - New Hardwood Floor On The Main - California Shutters Throughout -Huge Backyard(10K Premium To Builder For Lot) - Great Room With Gas Fireplace- Huge Master With 5 Pc Ensuite And Walk In Closet- Double Door Entry- Stone Patio-Custom Built Garden Shed-Steps To T T C - Quiet Street-
Extras: 2nd Floor Laundry With Built In Cabinets - Marble Counter Tops In Bathrooms - Pot Lights In The Great Room - Survey And Floor Plans Attached - All Elfs - All Window Coverings - Central Vacumm - Central A/C - Gas Furnace

Property information

RCMP announces new national marijuana grow strategy, creates a grow house website

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police along with the Government of Canada and a variety of business and community partners launched a national strategy to combat marihuana grow operations(MGOs) entitled the Marihuana Grow Initiative (MGI).

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Complimentary to the National Anti-Drug Strategy, the MGI was developed in collaboration with subject matter experts from across the country and represents the RCMP’s renewed commitment to fight marihuana production controlled by organized crime groups. Based on three key components: Awareness, Deterrence and Enforcement; the MGI outlines how the RCMP will work with partners and community members. It helps inform the Canadian public about the consequences, inherent hazards and destructive impacts these activities and criminal groups have on their communities.

The RCMP is also launching a new page on the public website that will act as a centralized database of residences where a MGO or clandestine lab was dismantled by the RCMP under the authority of a search warrant. This site will be consistently updated with new properties and it will also provide guidance and feature resources for landlords and buyers alike concerning the damages that MGOs and clandestine labs have on a property and its occupants.

The Canadian Real Estate Association participated in the announcement, endorsing the creation of a national website for dismantled MGOs and clandestine labs. OREA has lobbied at the provincial level for eight years to create a registry of former marijuana grow operations.

“Grow ops have become a major concern for homebuyers and REALTORS® across the country. REALTORS® are committed to protecting the interests of our clients and believe that buyers should be able to determine whether a house for sale has housed a grow op in the past,” stated Gary Morse, CREA President. “The structural integrity and inhabitability of such houses may be compromised and prospective buyers need to know that costly remediation may be needed to correct health and safety issues.”

For information on the RCMP’s new strategy, please visit: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/fio-ofi/grow-ops-culture-eng.htm

SOLD-Unionville - Markville - Markham Home for Sale - Kennedy/Carlton

44 long island

•  2 story - MLS®

 -  Remarks For Clients: Rich , Regal And Royal , You Can Use All The Adjectives For This Greenpark Home In Preferred Unionville Neighbourhood. Huge Sun- Lit Foyer Welcomes You In The Warm Cosy 3000 Appx Sq Home. Properties Like These Rarely Come On The Market.Gleaming Parquet Floors Throughout,Newly Painted With Neutral Colors . Wood Burning Fireplace In The Family For Winter Parties.

Extras: Pride Of Ownership.Huge Bedrooms. Basement Is Finished With Rentable Basement Apartment With Separate Entrance- And Half Basment Is Used As A Recreation Room By The Owners. Walking Distance To Elementry And Markville High School.

 Roof,Front Windows,Furnance,A/C,Cvac,Flat Roof,All Changed In The Past Few Years. Tenant Willing To Stay-Paying 800$,

Property information

SOLD-Stunning Meadowvale Village Mississauga Semi-detach for Sale at Mavis/Derry

7107 Village Walk Front

• 4 bath, 3 bdrm single story - MLS® $459,000 CAD - Buy Me Now

 -  Stunning - Meadowvale Village -Original Italian Owned - 3 Bedroom Semi With Finished Basement- 4 Washrooms- Open Concept- No Carpet In The Whole House, Beautifull Laminate With Matching Spiral Stairs, Pattern Concrete In The Front And Backyard Patio,Element Glass Front Door, Welcoming Foyer, Turn Key Home -Show With Confidence And Sell.
Extras: Gas Stove, Gas Dryer, Washer, Double Door Fridge,Basement Fridge, Central Vaccum , Dishwaher .
Remarks for Brokerages: Download And Include Schedule, With All Offers. Thanks For Showing.Any Time Showings And

Property information

Call Tom 647-299-4529  to view the property.

The worst is behind us now.

Strong economy sees numbers boosted

August 26, 2011 -- As one of the world’s most diverse cities, Toronto welcomes nearly 100,000 newcomers to Canada each year. These people have chosen Toronto to begin building a better life. A report released recently by CIBC World Markets confirmed that the reasons for embracing Toronto are well founded.

The report assessed the performance of Canada’s largest cities in the first quarter of this year, and while Toronto didn’t come out on top in any individual category, the cumulative effect gave Toronto top position in the report’s ranking of Canadian cities.

The Toronto Real Estate Board’s figures on July’s resale housing market are testament to the strength of our local economy.

A total of 7,992 homes changed hands in July, representing a 23 per cent increase over the 6,564 sales from a year ago. While sales were robust in July, it is important to note that the sharp increase is relative to July 2010, when higher lending rates, new mortgage regulations and misconceptions about the Harmonized Sales Tax dampened activity.

Including July transactions, there have been 55,863 transactions so far this year, within 1.3 per cent of last year’s performance. Total sales for the year are expected to move above the 2010 total by the end of August.

Sales activity in the 905 Region outpaced that of the City of Toronto last month, with year-over-year increases of nearly 25 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

The amount of time it took to sell a home, on average, declined compared to last year. Homes that sold this past July were on the market for an average of 26 days - down by 21 per cent from an average of 33 days a year ago. This decline in selling time is largely due to a dip in listings in comparison to last year. Less supply has led to more competition amongst home buyers, which has decreased the decision time for offers.

Tighter market conditions continued to drive strong annual growth in the average selling price. The average price of a resale home in the GTA increased by almost 10 per cent year-over-year to $459,122. Gains were slightly stronger in the city’s surrounding area, with the 905 average price climbing 11 per cent to $448,612. The average price in Toronto increased seven per cent to $475,717.

Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis suggested that market may become more balanced in the second half of the year: “We did see some year-over-year improvement in new listings in July, but sales continued to grow at a faster clip. As we move toward the end of 2011 and into 2012, expect more households to list their home for sale, prompted by the strong price growth reported during the first half of 2011.”

Homeownership remains affordable in the Greater Toronto Area which includes  Durham, Peel, York Region. Low mortgage rates and steady income growth have kept homebuyers confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term. This is why the number of transactions and the average selling price has continued to grow. However, some of our REALTOR® Members serve consumers in the City of Toronto putting their clients at a disadvantage. Consumers could be doing even better with the repeal of the backbreaking and unfair upfront costs brought about by Toronto’s additional land transfer tax. Mayor Rob Ford has promised to do away with the tax. All Members of the Toronto Real Estate Board, especially residents in the 416 area code, look forward to the fulfillment of this promise.

With the recent volatility of the financial markets, the strength of home ownership has become a great topic for discussion. Variations can occur but your home is where you enjoy your family and friends. Living in the Greater Toronto Area is a very wise long term investment with lots of options in terms of housing type and neighborhoods.

More Posts Next page »