Good morning everyone;
VACATION ALERT: Please be advised that from July 25th– August 1st I will be away but have full support in my absence. While away I will still be reachable but may have a delayed response time.
Open house this weekend @ 69 Holborne Ave – East York. Feel free to come by and say hello Sat-Sun 2-4pm
Virtual Tour: http://www.propertyspaces.ca/69holborne
Record Sales and Strong Price Growth in June (See Full Report)
TORONTO, July 7, 2015 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 11,992 sales through TREB’s MLS® System in June. This result represented a new record for the month of June and an 18.4 per cent increase over the June 2014 result of 10,132.
Selling prices were up markedly on a year-over-year basis in June, for all major home types. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 8.9 per cent in comparison to June 2014. The average selling price was up by 12.3 per cent over the same period to $639,184.
High-end homes have accounted for a greater share of overall transactions this year compared to last year. This is the key reason why the average selling price has increased at a greater annual rate than the MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark.
“It is encouraging to see that new listings have edged upward so far this year, as homeowners have reacted to strong home price growth and have looked to take advantage of increased equity in their homes. However, the annual rate of sales growth continues to far outstrip listings growth, which means that there remains a lot of willing buyers in the marketplace who haven’t found a home that meets their needs. As long as this situation persists, expect home prices to trend strongly upward,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.
BoC rate decision comes in
HomeNews – by Justin da Rosa
The Bank of Canada has lowered its overnight rate to 1/2 per cent.
“The lower outlook for Canadian growth has increased the downside risks to inflation. While vulnerabilities associated with household imbalances remain elevated and could edge higher, Canada’s economy is undergoing a significant and complex adjustment,” the central bank said in a statement. “Additional monetary stimulus is required at this time to help return the economy to full capacity and inflation sustainably to target.”
Prior to the decision economists were split on what move the central bank would make, with 16 of 29 economists polled by Bloomberg forecasting the central bank would slash the overnight rate by a quarter point to 0.5 per cent.
The market was rife with speculation building up to the announcement, with analysts suggesting a rate drop would have little economic impact because rates were already extremely low.
Brokers suggested a slight lowering of rates would have little effect, except to perhaps attract stragglers to the enticing low rate environment – assuming, of course, that lenders follow the Bank of Canada’s lead.
The Bank of Canada expects real GDP to grow by just over one per cent this year and about 2 ½ per cent in 2016.
“The Bank’s estimate of growth in Canada in 2015 has been marked down considerably from its April projection. The downward revision reflects further downgrades of business investment plans in the energy sector, as well as weaker-than-expected exports of non-energy commodities and non-commodities,” the Bank said. “Real GDP is now projected to have contracted modestly in the first half of the year, resulting in higher excess capacity and additional downward pressure on inflation.”
Record smashed in Steel Town
Mortgage lenders cut borrowing rates but is it good news?
Home Market Update – by Steve Randall16 Jul 2015
The Big Five banks have reacted to the BoC’s decision to cut interest rates to 0.5 per cent, but as expected they haven’t passed the whole amount on to borrowers.
TD Bank made its cut just 12 minutes after the rate decision was announced. It reduced its prime lending rate by 0.10 per cent to 2.75 per cent, but it had to make a further cut later as its rivals opted to cut 0.15 per cent to 2.70 per cent.
Analysts are uncertain that the lower rates will mean more Canadians deciding to become first-time buyers; mortgage rates are already at historic lows and are unlikely to fall much if at all, although the talk of cheaper borrowing may be enough to boost interest.
The BoC took a calculated risk in cutting rates as it could fuel home prices in some already overheated markets. Coupled with the downward effect on the Canadian dollar it has the potential to make housing more attractive to foreign investors and tighten affordability for domestic buyers.
Some analysts are also concerned that new or existing borrowers may feel overconfident that mortgage rates will stay low while interest rates do but the tracking of government bond yields, which are already rising, could increase the cost of some home loans long before interest rates rise again. That could potentially mean that homeowners will struggle to make payments and ultimately lead to a housing correction.
TD Bank economist Diana Petramala told the Globe and Mail: “We do think that eventually the economic conditions are going to catch up to the housing market and we’ll see a bit of an unwinding of recent strength over the second half of the year, even with the cut in interest rates.”
Record smashed in Steel Town
HomeNews: by Jordan Maxwell07 Jul 2015
Property listings continue to fly off the shelf in what many are calling Ontario’s hottest market for agents – a stone’s throw from the GTA.
Hamilton recorded a significant increase in home sales for the third month in a row, registering a 31.2 per cent increase, according to the latest figures from the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.
“The real estate market exploded in June,” said Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) CEO Ross Godsoe in a release. “To break the old record – set just last month – by that much and for the second month in a row, shows just how active it was. We saw more areas throughout Hamilton in particular where homes sold at or above list price as an average – not just in isolated cases.”
His comments follow the release of numbers which show that 2,062 property sales were processed through the RAHB’s MLS system, which dismantled the record of 1,810 sales set just last month.
There were 2,526 properties listed in June, an increase of 12.9 per cent compared to the same month the year prior. However, the increase in sales left the end-of-month listing inventory 12.2 per cent lower than last June.
The average price for a property in the Hamilton-Burlington area in June was $451,403, an increase of almost nine per cent from June 2014.
The rapid pace of sales, however, meant the available inventory at month’s end fell to 3,698 properties, down 12.2 per cent from last year.
“We are deep into a sellers’ market right now,” he said. “The two main indicators are the sales-to-listing ratio, which is high at almost 85 per cent in the residential market, and months of inventory. Right now we have less than two months’ inventory. That is extremely low when you consider that a balanced market has five to eight months of inventory.”
Year-over-year sales in Hamilton increased 27.1 per cent, to 1,089 from 857, while listings rose 18.5 per cent to 1,285 from 1,084. The average price in the city rose 9.1 per cent to more than $368,000 from $337,480. The available inventory of properties sank 14 per cent to 1,416 from 1,646.
In Burlington, 438 properties were sold in June this year compared to 347 in the same month of 2014, a spike of 28.8 per cent. Average prices rose 7.2 per cent to $576,200 from $537,700.
Construction Blog # 7
Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Halleluiah! After 3+ months delays I have FINALLY received by construction permits. I literally received them yesterday afternoon and construction will now begin next week. On a good note the crews I had lined up for demolition are still available for next week to start. I plan to record segments of the construction. It will be bitter sweet as our home has been a very good one for our family over the last 12 years. Having moved out 3 months ago and now seeing the home empty, it is clearer more than ever that it was time.
It’s a big step and will require a huge time, mental and financial commitment from our whole family but we hope to survive and enjoy the experience. It’s been quite the process so far and we are just getting started!
I will keep you posted with updates as we go.
Have a fantastic weekend and a triumphant week, Anthony