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February, 2012 - Toronto Real Estate Market Update
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February 3, 2012 Hello again.  Thanks as always for the great support you send my way. I couldn't survive this business without the help of my dear friends, family and clients!
The big news seems to be the concern for the ever increasing debt levels a lot of folk have right now. Interest rates are so low that to borrow $100,000 at the present 5 year fixed rate of 3.14% (posted by Mortgage Alliance 3rd February 2012) costs just $480.46 per $100,000. The variable rate offered is 2.99%...not a whole lot of difference. It seems to me that it's the real estate market that is keeping the city afloat, thanks to property taxes, land transfer tax, plus the spin off consumer driven industries that see us forking out HST on everything from appliances to paint. I am always surprised at the criticism pointed at the real estate industry by folks unable to buy, when it's this source of income that keeps the streets paved, the community centers open, the city co-ops able to take in folk who have rent geared to income etc. There is talk that mortgage rules will be tightened again. From a previous press release, Finance Minister Flaherty suggests that the banks should regulate mortgages, not the government. The banks suggest that the individual consumer should shoulder responsibility for their levels of indebtedness. Years ago, there was a TV show called "Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous"...in my opinion, that's where this sense of entitlement started! We want it all! And we want it now! Well, the market didn't fail last month, although if you look at the charts below, we are down from 2010. The winter of 2011 was one of the worst. So I'm not so sure about the legitimacy of these numbers. Click here to view the full Market Watch Report for January. 4,567 home sales were recorded. This represents an 8.8% increase over the 4,199 sales in January 2011. Low-rise home were the biggest seller for a change The average selling price for January 2012 transactions was $463,534 - up by almost nine per cent compared to January 2011. "Low inventory levels have kept competition between buyers strong, resulting in robust annual rates of price growth over the last year. Strong price growth is expected to attract more listings. A better supplied market should result in a slower rate of price growth, especially in the second half of 2012," said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. Let's hope. Click here for the latest TREB Housing Charts. Here are sold statistics for a few diverse property types and areas. If you have an area of interest, let me know and I will research it for you. Kind wishes until next time, Louisa |
