Overview: advice for buying and selling real estate during the COVID-19 crisis, including a look at the tools and strategies realtors can employ to ensure safe, successful transactions. COVID-19 has disrupted everything—from the monumental, such as our jobs and social lives, to the minute, like getting a haircut. Real estate is no exception. On March 21st, The Ontario Real Estate…
Tag: GTA
2020 Spring Market Forecast: What’s In Store for Toronto?
Overview: an in-depth look at Toronto’s upcoming 2020 spring market, including the impact of the coronavirus and economic uncertainty on buying and selling real estate. In our last spring market blog, we correctly predicted that “Toronto’s housing market is ready for another strong season.” February saw a 16.7% increase in average home prices across the GTA and sales were up…
March 2020 Interest Rate Cuts: Everything You Need To Know
Overview: a look at the Bank of Canada’s March 2020 interest rate cuts and their impact on Toronto’s housing market, including mortgages, buying and selling property, and the future of Toronto real estate. These two cuts, coming within days of each other, mark the biggest rate cuts since 2009—and the first in almost 5 years. Shortly afterwards, Canada’s major banks…
2020 Toronto Housing Market: What To Expect
Now that the latest figures are in, we have a clear answer to the question: how did the market perform last year? According to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB): Total sales for calendar year 2019 amounted to 87,825 – up by 12.6 per cent compared to the decade low 78,015 sales reported in 2018. In other words, 2019 was…
GTA Housing Market Report: November 2019
Overview: a look at the November 2019 GTA Housing Market Report, including sales figures, price changes, house and condo sales, the new sellers’ market, and the overall state of the GTA real estate market. The November 2019 GTA Market Report is in, and like last month’s report, the numbers are very optimistic. Once again, the GTA housing market is on…
Benchmark Interest Rate: 2018-2019 Overview
The Decision Not To Raise Rates Steady as she goes. That seems to be the Bank Of Canada’s motto as, for the first time in over a year, it’s keeping the benchmark interest rate unchanged. In fact, since June 2017 both the central and chartered banks have hiked their rates a total of 5 times, the last occasion being October.…
Toronto’s Winter Housing Market 2019 Overview
Winter might not seem like the best time to buy or sell property, but the facts say otherwise. According to The Daily Hive, Toronto’s current housing market can be considered “Balanced” with a Sales-To-New-Listings-Ratio (SNLR) of 57%. That means it’s a great time for both buyers and sellers to get in on the action. Let’s take a closer look at…
5 Smart Questions To Ask When Hiring A Realtor
Our last post looked at the 3 biggest mistakes people make when hiring a realtor. This one examines the questions you should ask before hiring them, thus ensuring you have the best agent to sell your home. The fact is not all realtors are the same. Each brings a certain level (or lack) of experience, knowledge of particular neighborhoods, sales…
Top 3 Mistakes Sellers Make When Hiring A Realtor
When it comes to selling your home, hiring a realtor with the lowest fees isn’t always the best option. In fact, there are several other factors to consider, including experience, regional knowledge, marketing budget, and pricing strategy. Let’s look at the top 3 mistakes most sellers make when hiring an agent. Mistake #1: Hiring a realtor with the lowest commission…
Rising Interest Rates: Everything You Need To Know
Understanding The New Interest Rate Hike The Bank of Canada recently raised its key overnight rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%. Big banks like TD and BMO also followed suit, increasing their prime lending rate to 3.70% So how does this affect Toronto’s real estate market? The short answer: positively. While it costs more to borrow, the rate hike is…
Toronto and GTA Summer Housing Market Overview 2018
The state of Toronto’s condo market for summer 2018 is hot. And, like summer, it’s only going to get hotter…. Some quick (yet revealing) facts: The average price of a downtown condo is currently $673,537 The average days on market for a downtown condo is 16 Overall sales prices have increased 2% year-over-year to $807,871 While detached home prices plummeted…
Downtown Toronto’s Condo Market – Spring 2018 Overview
Spring Thaw After months of cold weather and cool sales, Toronto’s housing market is once again heating up—just in time for spring. Properties in the downtown area are seeing an uptick in offers, while demand for GTA real estate keeps growing. According to The Star, “the real estate industry is finally predicting a return to a traditionally brisk spring.” In…