REDISCOVER REAL ESTATE

Reflections on buying a home.

Thinking of buying a home? Protect yourself in a real estate transaction.

It’s no wonder that buying a home ranks high on the list of the most stress-provoking events one can experience, up there with the death of a loved one and divorce. There’s a lot at stake, financially and emotionally when you buy a new home. A good or bad outcome can affect your net worth, as well as your sense well being.

There are a lot of factors involved in the home-buying process that are beyond your control. For example, interest rates could jump unexpectedly, or an inspector might uncover a defect that you were unaware of. However, there are steps you can take to maximize your chances for a successful outcome.

The first step is to hire the right professionals to help you accomplish your goal. If you don’t already have a real estate agent, mortgage broker and a real estate lawyer that you’ve worked with successfully before, ask friends and associates for recommendations. If you have any doubts about a candidate, continue the search until you find qualified professionals with whom you have good rapport.

A common mistake home buyers and sellers make is to underestimate the time it takes to get the job done. Resist the urge to pile additional work on yourself while you’re in the midst of a home purchase or sale. By doing so, you’ll be better able to manage the stress.

One of the keys to ensuring that your real estate venture will have a happy ending is to make a commitment to stay involved in the process every step of the way. Even though you hire professionals to assist you, they aren’t the decision-makers. You are.

Let your agent know that you want to be kept informed of developments as they arise. The sooner you know about a problem, or potential problem, the sooner you can work on resolving it.

Don’t be shy about asking for an explanation of a facet of the business, or your transaction, that you don’t understand. If you don’t buy real estate on a regular basis, you shouldn’t expect yourself to know the ins and outs of the business.

As tedious as it might be, it’s important to read and understand every document before you sign it. Make sure you receive copies of everything you sign. It’s a good idea to retain these documents, even after the transaction closes. If there’s a problem during or after the transaction, this documentation could prove invaluable in proving your case.

It’s also wise to keep a transaction log. This can be something as simple as a notepad on which you record important transaction-related conversations. Keep the log with your other transaction documentation in case you need to substantiate facts later.

Be nice, but let your Realtor know what you expect from them. This should include regular updates. If you’re not receiving the service you need, let this be known. Don’t expect the people working for you to read your mind.

You should expect that issues of some sort will arise during the course of your home purchase. How you work through the problems has everything to do with the parties involved and how well you communicate with one another.

How may I help you today?

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b r i a n m a y e r real estate sales representative

Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage

independently owned and operated

187 King St. East Toronto, ON. M5A 1J5

(416)-637-8000

Helping You is What We Do.

A referral remains the highest compliment I can receive.

www.brianmayer.ca

‘A property that's different ... is like gold'

Former light industrial and commercial spaces have a special attraction for some buyers who want more than an ordinary home!

Like the loft concept? Able to see past a dilapidated building? Join the crowd. Industrial or commercial spaces have long attracted the artistic community who can see potential. Such buildings are in increasingly short supply, but there's still high demand for them and lately, the quirkier the space, the better.

“A property that is different and kooky in a downtown location is like gold right now,” says Ed Niedzielski, of Sutton Group Realty Systems Inc., who has been involved in the sale of many such properties, including the Drake Hotel. full article 

Kathy Flaxman From Friday's Globe and Mail

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 How can I help you today?

_______________________________________________

b r i a n m a y e r real estate sales representative

Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage

independently owned and operated

187 King St. East Toronto, ON. M5A 1J5

(416)-637-8000

Helping You is What We Do.

A referral remains the highest compliment I can receive.

www.brianmayer.ca

GTA REALTORS® report sales up first two weeks of July.

July 20, 2009 --

In the first two weeks of July, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,437 sales up 27 per cent compared to the first two weeks of July 2008. The average price for these transactions was up four per cent year-over-year to $394,750.

"The resurgence in home ownership demand experienced in the spring has continued into the summer. Home buyers continued to take advantage affordable market conditions in the first half of July," said TREB President Tom Lebour. "If the mid-month results carry forward, we may see the best July on record."

 see details

 

Canadian existing home sales, prices jump in June.

REUTERS

July 14, 2009

 

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Sales of existing homes in Canada jumped 31.5 percent in the second quarter from the first and saw their first year-over-year quarterly increase since before the peak of the financial crisis, CREA said on Tuesday.

 

The industry group said actual home sales totaled 147,351 units in the second quarter of 2009, up 1.4 per cent from the same quarter of 2008.

 

Home sales rose 8.7 percent in June from May on a seasonally adjusted basis. They were up 17.9 percent from June 2008, using nonseasonally adjusted figures.

 

"This is on par with the record for the month of June set in 2007 and is the fourth highest ever for activity in any month on record," CREA said in a report.

 

A total of 41,304 homes changed hands in the month.

 

The report is the latest piece of evidence showing that consumers are venturing back into the home market, encouraged by low mortgage rates and signs that the worst of the recession is over.

"The recovery in the Canadian housing market continued in earnest in June ...," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.

 

"With prices remaining quite favorable and low borrowing rates enhancing affordability, it is likely that this uptick in sale activity may continue for some time as the recovery in the housing sector takes hold," he said.

 

The average home price rose 3.6 percent year-over-year to a record high C$326,613 (about $287,000) in June.

 

On a quarterly basis, the average price was up 0.5 percent from a year earlier to C$318,696.

But CREA said strong sales activity in a handful of very expensive markets was distorting the national average to make prices look unusually high.

 

Sales growth in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton contributed the most to the national increase.

 

The inventory of unsold resale homes -- measured as the number of months it would take to sell the stock of houses at current sales rate -- fell to its lowest level since August 2007 at 4.2 months.

"Clearing out excess resale inventories is an important step toward witnessing a more material recovery in new housing construction, which is value-added and does impact GDP growth," said Derek Holt, economist at Scotia Capital.

 

Immigrants driving real estate market.

At least two of Canada's big banks have found encouraging signs in the country's housing market, one financial and the other social. A commentary from TD Economics on Thursday said there are encouraging signs that a bottom may be forming under the Canada's depressed home building market, citing an 8% increase in housing starts in June on top of a 10.8% increase in May.

Although homebuilding activity overall remains one-third below the pace of a year ago, the report by TD economist Pascal Gauthier noted that the June climb "marks the second consecutive monthly increase in starts after a long string of nearly uninterrupted slides that started last fall."

On a regional basis, June's urban starts increase was lead by a 59.4 per cent surge in the Prairie region, followed by a 25 per cent gain in B.C., and a more modest 3.1 per cent increase in Ontario.

On the flipside, urban starts slid by 6.3 per cent in Quebec and 3.9 per cent in the Atlantic region. However, the bank said regions east of Ontario have generally not seen the same extent of decline as elsewhere.

Overall, the figures "provide more evidence that the Canadian economy has certainly passed the worst of what can be expected in terms of residential investment contraction," TD said.

Meanwhile, Scotia Economics issued a report Thursday saying it has been recent immigrants who have been driving housing demand in Canada. The report cited census data that showed 72 per cent of immigrants lived in a dwelling owned by a household member in 2006, up from 68 per cent in 2001.

By comparison, the percentage of people born in Canada living in a dwelling owned by a household member rose only two percentage points over the same period, from 73 to 75 per cent.

Because the analysis was based on 2006 data, it was unclear what effect the current recession might be having on the number of immigrants and others entering the housing market.

But it was clear from the report that Scotiabank expects that trend in real estate to continue.

"Given Canada's aging population and relatively low fertility rates, longer-term household formation and housing needs will be largely determined by immigration," said senior economist Adrienne Warren.

Based on standard assumptions regarding immigration, fertility and mortality rates, Warren said immigration could account for 75 per cent of the growth in Canada's population a decade from now, up from 60-65 per cent today, and for almost all of it by 2030. Most of this growth will be in Canada's urban areas.

Among other things, the report highlighted that the faster transition to home ownership among immigrants was supported in part by strong labour markets, which saw the employment rate for core working-age recent immigrants jump 3½ percentage points between 2001 and 2006 to 67 per cent.

This was faster than the 1½ percentage point gain among their Canadian-born counterparts, which rose to 82.4 per cent. "The better labour market performance of recent immigrants may reflect a favourable skills mix, with many employed in high-growth industries such as engineering, construction and skilled trades," Warren said.

"It may also reflect a greater geographic mobility to meet shifting regional labour requirements," she added.

Of the more than one million immigrants that came to Canada between 2001 and 2006, 69 per cent settled in the three largest metropolitan areas, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, according to the data cited by Scotiabank.

See Scotiabank's report on Real Estate Trends »

How can I help you today?

_________________________________________________

b r i a n m a y e r real estate sales representative

Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage

independently owned and operated

187 King St. East Toronto, ON. M5A 1J5

(416)-637-8000

Helping You is What We Do.

A referral remains the highest compliment I can receive.

www.brianmayer.ca

It's coming: HST may scuttle condo deals .

The boost to maintenance fees could be enough to trigger ‘material change' provisions in contracts – and send buyers running for the exits.

Next year at this time, the Ontario government – the same government that still maintains rent controls – will raise monthly maintenance fees for all condominium owners by between 5 per cent and 8 per cent.

Renters will face rent hikes based on operating costs for their buildings. Those increases will vary but could be in the $25-a-month range for a downtown one-bedroom suite.

Owners of older condos may face an even greater hike to top up their building's reserve fund if major work such as replacing a roof is slated for the near future.

At the same time, developers of projects with suites already sold but not yet occupied are scurrying to their lawyers. Their concern is an 8-per-cent hike in monthly maintenance fees may trigger the “material change” clause in purchase agreements and allow buyers to back out of signed deals. >> full article

Canadian Real Estate Market on the Upswing!

Despite a slow start to the year, the Canadian market has certainly bounced back since the low of last January.  Resale housing in particular is again surging forward, and in May reached new heights.  According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), strengthening consumer confidence, low interest rates, and improved affordability are all drawing buyers to the housing market.

 

In fact, CREA reports that Canada’s resale housing market activity has returned to pre-recession levels.  Actual home sales via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of Canadian Real Estate Boards totaled almost 50,000 units in May 2009.

The national MLS® residential average sale price in May 2009 neared $320,000, and reached the highest monthly level on record.  In just four short months, the national MLS® residential average price recovered 16.4% from January’s low.

 

According to CREA, the supply of new listings coming onto the MLS® continued to decelerate in May, to just over 65,000 units, the lowest level since December 2005. This tightening supply will keep upward pressure on home values.   

 

In the meantime, Canadian consumers are starting to feel positive about the Real Estate Market again.  According to statistics compiled by the Conference Board of Canada, national consumer confidence improved for the second consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2009, and the balance of sentiment about making major purchases, such as a home, continues to improve.

 

Interestingly, new construction doesn’t reflect the current demand.  Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports that new housing starts in 2009 have fallen sharply from the record pace of recent years.  The annual rate of new residential construction was 128,400 units in May, a marked decline from over 200,000 housing starts in each of the last seven consecutive years.   Housing starts are expected to improve throughout 2009 and over the next several years to gradually become more closely aligned to demographic demand, which is currently estimated at about 175,000 units per year.  In the meantime, there will be less inventory for home buyers to choose from. 

 

So, what’s the bottom line?  Increased affordability due to historically low interest rates, government housing stimulus programs and rising consumer confidence have all contributed to the demand for homes.  Meanwhile, supply is dwindling, due to a decreasing number of resale homes coming on the market, strong sales activity, and a marked decrease in new home construction.  Continued demand and reducing supply will place more upward pressure on Canadian house prices.

 

Now that you know the highlights of the national picture, want to know more about what’s happening in your own community? Or Who do you know that may benefit from learning about their local market conditions?

 
Contact me today for a FREE-No Obligation Current Market Analysis.

 

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How can I help you today?

_________________________________________________

b r i a n m a y e r real estate sales representative

Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage

independently owned and operated

187 King St. East Toronto, ON. M5A 1J5

(416)-637-8000

Helping You is What We Do.

A referral remains the highest compliment I can receive.

www.brianmayer.ca