Good morning everyone;
I hope everyone is doing well and not getting to down with the wet weather that we have been having.
In the Market
Price Growth across All Major Home Types in May (See Full Report)
June 5, 2013 — Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 10,182 sales through the TorontoMLS system in May 2013, representing a dip of 3.4 per cent compared to May 2012. Sales of single-detached homes in the GTA were up by almost one per cent compared to the same period last year, including a three per cent year-over-year increase in the City of Toronto.
“The sales picture in the GTA has improved markedly over the past two months. While the number of transactions in April and May remained below last year’s levels, the rate of decline has been much smaller. A growing number of households who put their decision to purchase on hold as a result of stricter lending guidelines are starting to become active again in the ownership market,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ann Hannah.
The average selling price for May 2013 sales was $542,174 – up by 5.4 per cent in comparison to $514,567 in May 2012. The annual rate of price growth was driven by the tight low-rise segment of the market and particularly by single-detached and semi-detached home transactions in the City of Toronto. Average condominium apartment prices were also up slightly in comparison to last year.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 2.8 per cent year-over-year.
“The annual rate of price growth in May was not surprising given the competition that still exists between buyers, particularly for low-rise home types such as single-detached and semi-detached houses. We remain on track for a three-and-a-half per cent increase in the average selling price for 2013 as a whole,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
What a busy few weeks indeed?
Highlight of the week
A first for me – This week I presented 2 offers on two different properties for the same clients on the same day! Bidding war strategy
Explanation: I had been working with a very lovely couple for about 9 months and we had been out bid in multiple offers situations 6 times!
On Tuesday, two homes that my clients really liked were taking offers (at different times). The homes were only a few side streets apart.
- Home #1 – Was reviewing offers at 11am
- Home #2 – Was reviewing offers at 7pm.
The plan was to try for the first and if unsuccessful, we would hit the second home in the evening. All research and documents for both homes were prepared and signed off on Sunday evening.
After being disappointed losing the first home in the morning (with 5 other competing offers) our odds improved in the evening with only 3 competing offers, our strategy worked! My clients were thrilled that they were the winning offer.
Auto Car Care Tip
If you have stone chips or small cracks in your windshield you can get them repaired for free!
-Many Insurance companies will cover the cost to fix these chips/cracks without charging you a deductible or affecting your insurance rates. The Logic: The insurance company will pay to fix small chips now to avoid those chips from growing into windshield replacements later – which would cost them much more money. Just last month I paid $80 to fix to chips in my windshield
Have a wonderful weekend, Anthony.