Steven Maislin's blog

April 2019

Dear Friend,

Toronto Real Estate Board members reported 7,187 residential sales through TREB’s MLS System in March 2019, almost the same amount as the 7,188 sales reported in March 2018. While the number of sales remains the same, the number of new listings, homes available for purchase, was down by 5.1 % year-over-year.  This lack of inventory has created a shortage of homes available for sale, resulting in multiple offers and a price increase of an average of 5% since January of this year.

City of Toronto Secondary Suites Proposals – TREB Input

March 20, 2019 -- The City of Toronto's Planning and Housing Committee is considering a proposal to help facilitate the creation of secondary legal suites. TREB has provided input to the committee in support of the plans. View TREB's information.

Detail

The proposals being considered by the City of Toronto's Planning and Housing Committee are as follows:

March 2019,

Dear Friend, 

No real surprises in the market, approximately the same number of sales as last February, 5,025, with roughly the same amount of listings, 13,284, which is less than three listings for every sale, making it an overall “sellers” market as buyers have few choices when purchasing a home. 

Dear Friend,
Despite the harsh January weather, Toronto Realtors sold 4009 homes through the
Toronto Real Estate Board MLS system, slightly more than the same period last year.
This bodes well for a very active market in 2019.
While the average selling price was up by 1.7 % on a year-over-year basis, it really
does not represent what is happening in the marketplace, as not all housing sectors are
experiencing the same effects. Condominium apartments continue to lead the way in

Dear Friend,

The Toronto Real Estate Board finished off 2018 with 3,780 sales, a little bit less than the 4,500 I predicted, and that was accompanied by 31.5% fewer new listings than December 2017, a sign that tight market conditions will continue in many markets.

In too many offers we write in that a buyer is entitled to 2 or 3 visits and leave it at that, the subject of course to proper notification to the seller to coordinate the time and date. And this is wrong as it is not enough. Can this essential clause come back to blow your deal or cause problems? An ideal clause should exclude visits by appraisers, home inspectors and in some cases engineers or architects (and others). Your main clause should state, “2 or 3 “personal ” visits.” I can give you many scenarios such as:

Dear Friend,

The Toronto Real Estate Board finished off 2018 with 3,780 sales, a little bit less than the 4,500 I predicted, and that was accompanied by 31.5% fewer new listings than December 2017, a sign that tight market conditions will continue in many neighbourhoods.

Though your clients can gain an advantage by continuing their home search in December, many buyers and sellers will put their real estate aspirations on hold until after the holiday season. You can use this downtime to remind customers of your local market expertise so they’re ready to make a move when it’s time to jump back in. However, you want to be mindful of how you reach out to customers.

1. Get your financial house in order. Know your FICO score, and work to get it above 700 to improve your ability to qualify and to get a better rate.
2. Understand what you can afford to put down. The average down payment this year is 11% nationally, but it varies dramatically by the market and by loan type. If you are struggling to come up with a down payment necessary for your market or type of mortgage, research down payment assistance programs.