The Toronto Real Estate Board has released its June 2011 Market Report, reporting that 10,230 homes were sold in the Greater Toronto Area during the month, which is an increase of 21% over June 2010 – the third best June on record, after 2007 and 2009.

The Toronto Real Estate Board says sales jumped 21% in June.

“The strong June result capped off an interesting first half of 2011,” said the Toronto Real Estate Board’s president, Richard Silver. “The pace of sales was a bit sluggish at the beginning of the year, but rebounded in May and June. Because of the positive affordability picture, home buyers remained confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term.”

Listings dropped this year, which the Toronto Real Estate Board says is lessening the amount of potential Toronto real estate purchases.

“While sales have been strong, we would be on track for a record number of transactions in 2011 if not for the decline in listings so far this year,” said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s senior manager of market analysis. “Tight supply meant more competition between home buyers and an accelerating annual rate of price growth in the second quarter. Home owners will likely react to the strong price growth by listing their homes in greater numbers. A better supplied market would result in more moderate price increases,” he said.

The Toronto Real Estate Board says that 4,899 detached homes in the city were sold in June 2011, with a median price of $502,000. The next highest-selling property type was condominium apartments with 2,480 sold at a median price of $308,450.

For the full Toronto Real Estate Board report, click here.

Toronto Real Estate Sales Up In June is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Although it’s not my favourite thing to report, the average sale price in April for Toronto houses and condominiums hit a new high.  In fact, we’re up over 9% from one year ago.

I don’t like reporting things like this because they always leave us open to more ‘bubble talk’  – the world is ending, everything’s going to implode, etc – which of course is not reality.

The other downside is that dramatically higher average sale prices make homes less affordable for new home buyers in Toronto, something we really don’t want to do.

So, here’s our Toronto Real Estate Market Report for April.  Take a few minutes to watch and get some background understanding of what’s happening in our local market.

April Toronto Real Estate Board Average Sale Price Hits A New High is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

At our annual RE/MAX Hallmark awards breakfast last Thursday, Sally and I had the pleasure of receiving awards for our sales efforts in 2010.  We thank all of our loyal clients for their continuing support and for their referrals every year.

We also had a special treat.  RE/MAX Hallmark arranged to have Craig Alexander, Chief Economist at TD Canada Trust come and speak to us about economic and real estate market trends in the USA and Canada.

Craig is an excellent speaker and, in his current occupation, is in an excellent position to comment on what we can expect in Canada and in Toronto in the coming months and year.

Here’s the video of Craig’s presentation…

When Will The Bank Of Canada Raise Rates And By How Much? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

The Toronto real estate house and condominium market this spring is looking a lot like last year with near record sales, low house and condo inventories and imminent interest rate increases predicted for this summer and beyond.

Last year, sellers finally realized by early May that they could get a good price for their homes and decided to list them all at once.  Inventory jumped almost 15% in one month and the average sale price peaked for the year.  After the dust settled, thru a busy June, the Bank of Canada raised their rates and the market slowed down.

This year in the GTA, listings of houses and condos are lower than they’ve been since before 2000 and so far there’s no indication that move-up sellers are going to jump into the market.

To get the full market scoop, click on our March Toronto Real Estate Market Report video below.

We’ve included the entire RE/MAX Ontario First Buyer’s Report for you to download and read compliments of Toronto’s Real Estate Team… please enjoy!

Will The Spring Real Estate Market In Toronto Peak In April Or May? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Toronto Real Estate Board releases March numbers

The Toronto Real Estate Board has released its report for Greater Toronto Area resale homes using the Toronto MLS Listings for the first two weeks of March, reporting a five per cent decrease.

The Toronto Real Estate Board has released statistics for March.

“A positive economic outlook for the Greater Toronto Area, including steady growth in jobs and incomes, has kept households confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term,” said the president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, Bill Johnston in a press release.

In the first two weeks of March 2011, 4,138 homes were sold. New listings for the first two weeks of March this year were also 15 per cent fewer than last year, while prices increased 4.6 per cent.

The sales, which spanned from March 1st to March 14th of this year, were mostly detached homes in both the 416 and 905 area codes. Condominium sales were the only sales to increase year over year in the 416 area code, increasing one per cent.

“Market conditions are tighter compared to this time last year, resulting in more competition between buyers and sustained upward pressure on the average selling price,” said the senior manager of market analysis for the Toronto Real Estate Board, Jason Mercer, in the same press release.

Toronto Real Estate Board Report For March is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Toronto Real Estate – Market Firms Up in November

Well, the fall market is now over and we’re into the traditional Christmas-New Years slow period.

Although the last half of the year has been slower than the first, 2010 overall has been excellent.  By the end of December we should be very close to the record MLS sales attained during the 2009 calendar year.

I think most professional real estate agents are actually glad it’s slowed down somewhat in the July to December period this year.

When the market is crazy like it was in the first 5-6 months, it’s very frustrating for our buyer clients.  They fall in love with a home, put an offer in but don’t get it.  Then they have to repeat that scenario perhaps four or five times before they get lucky and win the ‘home’ lottery.

Everyone’s hoping that 2011 keeps an even keel with moderate sales price appreciation and very little multiple offer foolishness going on.

Watch November’s Toronto Real Estate Market Report and learn what happened and what to expect going into 2011!

Toronto’s Real Estate Market Firms Up In November is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

I’ve always believed that you can interpret Toronto real estate statistics more than one way but I’ve typically erred to the “glass is half full” side instead of the “glass is half empty” option.  I do realize that the Toronto Star and other media outlets have to sell papers with their scary headlines but do they not realize that they’re actually negatively impacting on individual people’s lives when they do it?

I’ve compiled our monthly Toronto Real Estate Market Report for the month of October and there are some very positive figures in there.

Just looking at one statistic… the average sale price in the GTA… it is up 4.76% from October of 2009 and it is also up 12.2% from the 2009 overall year average.  Not too shabby for a market that media outlets and one specific blogger have called over inflated and crashing to unknown depths.

There are some excellent opportunities out there now whether you’re buying or selling so grab a tea or coffee and spend an important 8-9 minutes to watch this month’s report.

What Dream Factory Does The Toronto Star Get Its Negative Real Estate Headlines From? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Highlights From The Canadian Mortgage Market Primer From TD Canada Trust

Optima at CityPlace on Navy Wharf

For the doomsdayer’s out there, I think we’ve amased enough proof to show that the downside risks of a significant fall in Toronto’s home prices are remote if even possible at all.

We’re not going to be overwhelmed by power of sale homes (the Canadian term for the US foreclosure) which would drive prices down.  The economy is not going to implode and the sun will still shine tomorrow.

It’s natural for the media to blow up such concerns (it sells their papers or brings viewers to their newscasts) and it’s time that responsible people look at the reality to see what is fact and what is fiction.

To summarize… the chances of major banks incurring massive losses on mortgages in Canada are nil. The risk of speculators going wild in the market are mitigated by several factors which disuade speculation ( which is bad and dangerous) while not outright discouraging real estate investment (good).

Mortgage insurance protects the banks from borrower defaults and mortgage lending guidelines prevent Canadian banks from encountering the same type of losses as the US banks have incurred.

Click here to read some of the exerpts from the recent TD Canada Trust report entitled “Canadian Mortgage Market Primer“.

There’s Now Proof That A Toronto Real Estate Bubble Doesn’t Exist is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Toronto Real Estate Board Stats - July 2010

So is it just a traditional summer market slowdown or is it the harbinger of a long-term decline in Toronto real estate sales?  Only time will tell (hindsight is always 100%).

Although the average Toronto house and condo sale price at $420,482 was up 6.3% over 12 months ago, it was down 3.5% from June and a significantly lower 6.2% from May 2010.  It IS typical that the summer month’s average does drop from the busy spring period of the year but the decline is not often as large as this.

House and condo sales across the Greater Toronto Area were down 31.2% from 2009 while listing inventory was up 21%.  To put some relevance to that figure, in case you thought we were ‘overwhelmed’ with listing inventory, we had fewer listings in the month than during July of 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2004 (4 of the last 6 years).

This listings decline represented either the sale of homes that had to sell or the removal from inventory of homes by sellers who were unwilling to lower their expectations and decided to remove their home from the market.

This is not the time for agressive sellers looking for the ‘best price ever’.  It does however offer an ‘opportunity’ for Toronto move-up families… they’ll get a lower price for their existing home BUT save on the purchase price of their new house or condo!

The ratio of sales-to-listings came in at 30.2%… just above neutral market territory (24-28%)… the lowest it’s been so far this year.  This reflects a more balanced market devoid of multiple offer ‘crap’ which distorts the numbers for everyone and adds a lot of stress to the home buying process.

Downtown Toronto condo listing inventory was up just over 50% in C01 (west of Yonge) and in C08 (east of Yonge).  The average sale price in C01 was up slightly over June (+0.7%) and down in C08 (-3.7%).

August sales for the first several days of the month show a decline from July but we did have the long weekend Civic holiday in there.  The listing inventory has so far remained steady for the month.

Take a few minutes, grab a coffee or tea, and watch our July 2010 edition of Toronto’s Real Estate Market Report.

July Toronto Real Estate Board Sales Lowest Since 2002 is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Since starting in real estate back in 1980 I’ve seen many ups and downs of the Toronto market over the years – booms, busts and lots of in between.

Almost New Downtown Toronto One-Level 2-Bedroom Suite

In the ‘old days’ before the early 2000′s a traditional Toronto summer house and condo market meant a slow-down of activity and sales… listings would decline, buyers would relax on vacation or stay in because of the heat. 

That all changed over the past several years as increased buyer activity kept the market momentum going strong through the traditional ‘slow periods’ of summer and December/January.

However I think buyer fatigue from all the manufactured multiple offers and market frenzy of this spring has caused us to revert to a more traditional summer market!

As of mid-July the Toronto Real Estate Board reported 2,790 sales, down 37% from the same period in 2009.  The average sale price for the period was $427,931 – up a modest 8% from a year ago and down 1.7% from the June 2010 average price.

The listing inventory is 22,886, down slightly from June but up 27.4% over July 2009.

Critically the bellweather ratio of sales-to-listings dropped into neutral market territory for the first time since March 2009 – at mid-month it was at 25.4% (24-28% is a neutral market, below 24% is a buyer’s market and above 28% is a seller’s market).

Thus, for the first time in 15 months buyers have a much better opportunity to negotiate an excellent price for themselves.  Sellers who are moving up or down in the market still benefit on their buying side of the move.

The Bank of Canada moved the bank rate up 0.25% this past week bringing the regular bank’s prime rate up to 2.75% – still very modest.  With many institutions offering Prime minus 0.6% for a variable mortgage, that rate now sits at just above 2%.  Five-year fixed mortgages can easily be had in the low 4′s.

July Toronto Real Estate Market Showing Signs Of A Traditional Summer (For A Change) is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale