So now we're in the usual place in the calendar where the real estate cycle is supposed to be in the doldrums. July/August are usually the slowest months of the year in the real estate (along with December). As a matter of fact, even our office reduces our weekly meeting & caravan to every other week for the same reason. Many agents actually take the summer off for this same reason.
While the TREB announcements still indicate that market activity is higher than before, it's important to realize that this general kind of statement doesn't mean it's happening in every single corner of their domain. Some areas are always hotter than others, whether it's specific geography (I.e. downtown Toronto) or a particular type of home (detached or condo or bungalow).
People read in the media about how a particular home sold for well above the asking price and then assume they can make a similar score for their own home. Heck, I wish I could make the same thing happen for my own home, too! But the reality is otherwise. Those kinds of things are the exception, not the rule. In any given month, over 40% of the listed homes do not sell.
Why is that? There are a number of reasons including the three "L"s = Looks, List Price and Location. Whether you're in an up market or down market, you still have the single greatest control over how quickly your home sells - price. You set the price. Sure you want to get the highest possible price. But it's usually a trade-off of price versus how long it takes to sell. The more realistic the price, the more buyer-attention it gets, and the greater chance of receiving at least one offer.
I like to tell my sellers "I would rather you receive 10 offers and turn them all down, than to not receive a single offer at all".
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Protest Toronto's Proposed Extra Land Transfer Tax!
You've probably already heard that Toronto mayor David Miller and his money-hungry members of city council are chomping at the bit to use their newly received taxing powers in the city and one of the biggest bites is a plan to essentially double the existing Land Transfer Tax on the sale of homes.
It seems that they find it too difficult and too much effort to find ways to SAVE money and that the easier way (for starters) is to simply tax the home buyers.
If you think that just because you don't live within the city of Toronto that this doesn't affect you, you're only half right. It might not affect you immediately. But what it does is create a fairly significant tax disparity between the city and the surrounding areas *for the time being*.
Assume it gets passed. Now that the bar has been set, the surrounding municipalities will be encouraged to do likewise for their own areas - a huge new source of cash for each of them and all they're doing is "leveling the playing field"; not driving away homeowners.
With the current average home price hovering around $365,000, isn't buying a home in the GTA isn't already expensive enough?
For the average priced home ($365,000), the current Land Transfer Tax is $3,950.
With the proposed new Toronto tax, that would rise to $7,900!!!!
Once this tax is in, they just sit back and watch house prices rise and then receive an ever-increasing amount in their own pockets because it's a percent of the transaction amount.
Voice your objections at http://nohomebuyingtax.com/
It seems that they find it too difficult and too much effort to find ways to SAVE money and that the easier way (for starters) is to simply tax the home buyers.
If you think that just because you don't live within the city of Toronto that this doesn't affect you, you're only half right. It might not affect you immediately. But what it does is create a fairly significant tax disparity between the city and the surrounding areas *for the time being*.
Assume it gets passed. Now that the bar has been set, the surrounding municipalities will be encouraged to do likewise for their own areas - a huge new source of cash for each of them and all they're doing is "leveling the playing field"; not driving away homeowners.
With the current average home price hovering around $365,000, isn't buying a home in the GTA isn't already expensive enough?
For the average priced home ($365,000), the current Land Transfer Tax is $3,950.
With the proposed new Toronto tax, that would rise to $7,900!!!!
Once this tax is in, they just sit back and watch house prices rise and then receive an ever-increasing amount in their own pockets because it's a percent of the transaction amount.
Voice your objections at http://nohomebuyingtax.com/
Thursday, 5 July 2007
The GTA Market Still has Legs!
The market for resale homes covering the area in and around the GTA shows no signs of slowing down. There was an article in today's Star that says Royal LePage Real Estate Services is forecasting a strong market for the second half of this year right across the country.
In particular, the market in Sasketchewan has been particularly hot as many people are returning to live in the Regina and Saskatoon areas from the over-heated neighbour, Alberta.
In particular, the market in Sasketchewan has been particularly hot as many people are returning to live in the Regina and Saskatoon areas from the over-heated neighbour, Alberta.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)