What a difference a week makes! The real estate market is red hot. Again, this is all neighbourhood specific, but overall activity in the 416 continues to be very strong as demonstrated by some crazy sales last week. It’s not uncommon to see multiple offers on most properties that are listed with an attractive low asking price. We ask this question over and over – do you list low to create that bidding war or list at market value? If you ask around you will get mixed reviews. But the statistics show that last week 60% of all the freehold residential sales were sold at or above the asking price. The highest percentage we have seen since the spring market. It is encouraging to see a continued resurgence in the demand for ownership housing…

Happy Friday the 13th. Ah September. Our favorite month. The kids are back at school, the days are still warm, the nights are cool and we are all getting back into a groove. For us, September means more listing and sales activity and its time to open the floodgates for new property inventory. August inventory levels were challenging at best, but there was a sales rebound in Toronto which means house prices are rising once again. With the number of homes available for sale down by 11 % over the past year, competition between buyers is heating up again and multiple offers are once again on the rise…

The CNE is open and fall clothes are already available in stores. Yikes! that means that summer is over. As kids you would either be excited for school to start or trying to squeeze ever last moment that was left to play. These last two weeks of August are traditionally slow in real estate. Most agents have told their clients to wait until after labour day to list. Our feeling is that there are a lot of last-minute trip takers out there doing their best to enjoy what’s left of summer. So, savor what’s left of August and we will pick up again in September.

The dog days of August are upon us and if you like it hot and sunny then this is a great summer, unless you’ve lost out on multiple offers and are frustrated with the low inventory of properties for sale. The good news is sales in the GTA for the month of July jumped 24% from the same period last year. Toronto sales have been rebounding all summer from a slump earlier this year as buyers are overcoming tougher mortgage qualification rules and returning to the market. With new listings slow to come to market, prices rose in July as demand outpaced supply. The average selling price for a home in Toronto in July was $839,943. The average condominium price was $627,927 up 7.7% from a year ago…

Canadian housing enters a “boring” era marking a new period of stability for housing sales, after a less-than-stellar 2018 and early 2019. We have not heard Real Estate referred to as “boring” for a long time but Doug Porter, BMO chief economist says “The big story here is that sales and prices are essentially flat on a national basis, and the market is close to overall balance, and therefore sales activity is almost right on top of it’s 10-year average, which is exactly what policy makers would like to see.” It’s a pretty good spot to be in, avoiding boom but avoiding bust as well…

The rental stats were released last week by the Toronto Real Estate Board and the demand for condo apartments still remains strong. For the second quarter of this year 9,749 condo apartment rental transactions were reported, up by 14.9% compared to 2018. The number of condo apartments that were listed were also up by 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. The average 2019 one-bedroom condo apartment rent for the GTA was $2,192, up 6.7% compared to 2018. Over the same period, the average two-bedroom condo apartment rent increased by 4.3% to 2,873. The vacancy rate for the city of Toronto sits at 0.7%. The GTA population continues to trend upward, as the region attracts people from around the world, both on a permanent and temporary basis, to take advantage of a diversity of employment opportunities. Many of these  newcomers and existing GTA households choose to rent.

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the hot weather is finally here —  summer is in full swing. It seems that everywhere you look, glowing faces and lush gardens greet your gaze. A laid-back attitude seems to be permeating these days. As we have settled in after the long weekend, the real estate stats were released for the month of June, and its all good news! The average sale price for a home in the City of Toronto is $915,481, up 5% from a year ago and the number of sales recorded for the entire GTA was up 10%. Home sales and prices have perked up from a depressed 2018. Buyers started moving off the sidelines in the spring, and because we saw virtually no change in the number of new listings, market conditions tightened and price growth picked up, especially for more higher density home types like condos…