The Province of Ontario has just announced that it is extending the land transfer tax refund for first time buyers of newly constructed homes to now include resale homes. This means that first time home buyers can now save up to $2,000 on a resale home purchase. The legislation for this rebate has not yet been passed, but any first time home buyer that enters into an "agreement to purchase and sale" on or after December 13th, 2007 is entitled to a rebate of up to $2,000 once the legislation is passed.
The City of Toronto has also up dated their new land transfer tax so that first time home buyers should not have to pay the land transfer tax on the first $400,000 of their home purchase at all. Previously any first time home buyer who is buying a home that is priced over $400,000 had to pay the full tax up front and then get a rebate for the tax paid on the first $400,000. Under their new system, which they hope to have in place before Feb 1st 2008 when the tax starts, first time home buyers will be able to pay only the tax owing on the balance of the purchase price minus $400,000.
Well I did it! I took the plunge and took my business and added to it to make a more
seamless service to help my clients get better results, quicker and more
efficiently. I have now added mortgages to my real estate service by becoming a
Mortgage Agent with Mortgage One Solutions Ltd. a member of The Mortgage Centre.
Now you can get a great wholesale mortgage rate with terms that best meet your needs. Get your
pre-approved mortgage quickly and easily. Best of all, I work for you not the banks, top that off with the fact that my main purpose is to help you buy a home, or sell your home by providing mortgage approvals to qualified buyers; so I am not concerned about finder's fees and I will concentrate on just getting you the best mortgage for your needs.
Looking to renew, refinance or consolidate debts? I can help you with that with the same emphasys on exceptional service and great mortgage products.
I protact your record by only pulling your credit once when I shop your mortgage application to over 40 lenders for the best rates. Including most of the big banks, although some of them only deal with mortgage brokers through subsiduary businesses, I can often get you the same or better rate that you can get at the banks. Another benefit is that I don't just let you fill in the blanks and press submit. I work with you and your situation to get you mortgage approved and if there are issues that are blocking your application, like outstanding debts, I will go through your report with you and help you to get your credit record back on track.
Happy house hunting!
2007's real estate markets seem to be unstoppable. Once again October sets a new Toronto
MLS® record for the number of homes sold smashing the previous October record (Oct 2003) by 10% and sending the total home sales, for 2007, over 81,500 homes sold. That is just 1,500 short of the final number of homes sold in 2006 with two months to go, in which we would usually expect to see about 10,000 sales more. On top of that the sales volume in Toronto are expected to be extra high in November and December as home buyers are trying to avoid the new municipal land transfer tax which comes into effect on homes purchased after January 1st, 2008 and closing after February 1st, 2008.
The average purchase price for a home on the Toronto
MLS® system in October, 2007, was $394,646 up from last October's $356,423.
In Richmond Hill's 3
MLS® districts (N03,N04 and N05) there were 396 homes sold with the majority (211 homes) in the South end (N03) with a high number of Condominiums and an average sale price of $408,291 where as in the North end (N05, Oak Ridges down to Gamble Rd.) the there were only 68 homes sold, mostly detached home, with an average sale price of $491,850.
Toronto home's averaged $522,800 for the 1,602 homes that sold in October. That said there are still areas where you can get a detached home for under $400,000.
Real estate markets in the Toronto area and York Region are still very strong and it is still expected to continue being strong with stead price increases for the next few years. Making now a great time to buy or move if you haven't already.
If you would like more information feel free to contact me or fill out a "home search request" or " Home
Evaluation request" on my website
www.AndrewHodgeREALTOR.comTalk to you soon.
Finely detailed home in golfing country
• 3 bath, 3 bdrm bungalow - 
MLS® #N1253834 $650,000 - Luxury hobby horse farm
Tottenham, New Tecumseth - Luxury in the Country! This spectacular, renovated, bungalow seamlessly combines all of the modern luxuries and country living into one. A "stones throw" away from the prestigious Bond Head golf club and room to put a par three practice hole between the home and the barn without going into the paddocks or the hay field.
This home boasts custom Canac cabinets in the kitchen, great room and master ensuite. Plus cork floors through out the home (except Bathrooms, foyer and "Tack" room which are tiled), loads of halogen pot lights, Italian "liquid flow" granite (Master ensuite) and Brazilian "solid flow" granite counter tops in kitchen and great room, high end Kitchen Aid "Architec series" Stainless Steel appliances ( Fridge, Built in Convection oven and Convection Microwave/oven, and Built in Dishwasher), ceramic stove top, Whirlpool Duet Washer and Dryer, Maytag Water purification system, "Instant Hot" water tap in the kitchen, a 70 inch LCD Projection HDTV and much more.
The property also possesses a freshly seeded hay field, 4 paddocks, a stocked spring fed pond, a barn with 6 stalls and room for hay storage, a drive shed, chicken coop (currently not used), and a long list of nearly new farming equipment
Property information
Toronto Home Sales in August are well above expected numbers in terms of volume. As of August 17th there were 3,838 homes sold, up 17% from Aug 2006, and the average sale price across the Toronto MLS® system was $355,829.
So it looks like the summer market is doing very well with the lower priced home and condo sales. I, for one, am looking forward to see how the upper priced home sale come back in September.
The Tenant Protection Act is no longer the act that governs residential rental agreement in Ontario, Canada. It has now been replaced with the
Residential Tenancies Act with a few significant changes.
First, in the old act tenants were entitled to 6% interest on there last months rent per year payable each year. Now the interest has been reduced to the same as the consumer price index which will also be used in determining the rent increase amounts that landlords can charge yearly. This will, within reason , make a last months rent always equal the last months rent no matter how long you stay in the unit.
Landlords will now be allowed to inspect the unit for maintenance problems with 24 hours and the process for evicting tenants that have damaged their rental property ( either themselves or their guests) have been made easier. So be kind to your rental unit.
The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal has been given a new name and there are supposed to be improvements to the process of dealing with issues between landlords and tenants. This new entity is called the Landlord and Tenant Board.
If you are, or want to be, a landlord or tenant you should read the new act and know your rights. Get your copy at
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_06r17_e.htm its free and updated online if there are any amendments. Or at
http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_26923_1.htmlIf you are looking to buy or sell your home or investment property call me or contact me through my website at
www.YourAreaHomeTeam.ca
York Region's real estate markets were hot in July 2007 as were all of the Northern districts on the Toronto MLS® system. Sales this year were up 27.7% with 1,797 homes sold compared to 1,407 homes sold in July 2007. The year to date home sales numbers are also up 16.3% to 12,232 homes sold in York Region, the Uxbridge area of Durham and parts of Simcoe County.
Over all average sold prices increased by 5% from $373,573 to $392,360 in July 2007. There were some very active markets in York Region including the 3
Richmond Hill Ontario real estate districts (N03, N04 and N05), Aurora (N06) and Vaughan (N08).
In Richmond Hill there was an increase of 47.1% in the total number of homes sold, going from 291 (July 2006) to 428 (July 2007) homes. Most of this increase was in the South end in the N03 and N04 districts. Richmond Hill seems to have been hit by the summer market effect resulting from higher price range buyers going on vacation. The result was a decrease in the average sold price but an increase in the median home sold price where they were very close to one another. The largest effect was in the detached home market where, in the N03 district, the average home price dropped from $601,645 to $556,140 while the median home sold price increased from $537,000 to $557,750, not that that is chump change or anything but there were definitely fewer million plus dollar homes sold in July 2007.
Aurora Ontario's real estate market saw an increase in home sales of 26.3% from 57 to 72 and an increase in average sale price from $392,658 (July 2006) to $454,512 (July 2007).
In the N08 district (Vaughan) and the N11 district (Markham) both saw increases in sales volume between 27% and 30%.
Happy house hunting.
Toronto's real estate markets keep motoring along. In July 2007 there were 1,590 homes sold in the central districts on the Toronto MLS® system. This would account for the down town core and everything between Dufferin and Victoria Park, South of Steeles, with the DVP as the eastern boundary south of Eglinton Ave. That is an increase of 24.3% over last year's 1,279 Toronto homes sold.
The average sold price in the Toronto Central districts was $470,464 up 9.9% from July 2006's $428,031 and the median home sale prices in central Toronto raised from last years $313,200 to $334,500. The one thing that Toronto still has is variety. The average home sold prices vary widely from district to district. The lowest average sold price was $329,339 in the C8 district which is predominantly condominiums. Where as the highest average home sold price was in the C12 district with and average home sale price of $1,442,216.
So far, in 2007, there have been 10,591 homes sold in the central
Toronto real estate markets which is up 12% from last years 9,450. Even with the potential new land transfer tax, that may get the go ahead if the City or Toronto does not figure another way to fix their budget issues, the real estate markets are booming with a sales to active listings ratio of 64.7% in July 2007 for the central Toronto districts.
It is still a great time to buy or sell Toronto real estate. Please let me know if you are looking for
Toronto, Ontario, homes for sale or if you want to
sell you Toronto home or condo fast.
The home inspection industry is currently not a regulated industry, which means that anyone can call themselves a home inspector and charge a fee to look at homes and give you a report or opinion on the condition of the home. So until the home inspection industry gets its own version of REBBA making it illegal to charge a fee for a home inspection related service, without first being registered and insured, how do you choose the right home inspector?
I think we would all recognize that this picture would be of someone you would not like to have inspecting your home, yet home inspectors are rarely this obviously unqualified. So, always make sure that they are a member of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI) and in Ontario, Canada, they should also belong to the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI). These two organizations have their own rules, regulations, ethics codes and training qualifications that must be met in order to remain a member.
Make sure that they have errors and omission insurance that is up to date and paid for, just in case they do miss something that should have been detected. I believe that Insurance coverage is a requirement for both of the above organizations, however it is best to ask and even to see an insurance policy "slip" stating that the insurance coverage is valid and active.
In Ontario, Canada, all REALTORS® must advise their clients that a home inspection is recommended service. Most will even give you a few names to choose from. You should call at least 2-3 home inspectors and interview them to find out what they do and how much they charge. Some may provide extra services for a premium or use specialized equipment that goes beyond a basic home inspection. You can expect to pay close to $400 for a home inspection on a home up to 2,500sq ft if it is not too old. Older homes may cost more as they often need to be home thoroughly inspected and my have crawl spaces and awkward spaces that the home inspector needs to get into to inspect the home. Larger homes will often cost more as there is more home to inspect and it will take longer and may even involve multiple heating and ventilation systems or other home systems that are included in the inspection.
As Part of my
York Region real estate service I have several home inspectors that I recommend to my clients based on how thorough they are. They do not work for me, so they are responsible to my clients to provide the information that they need even if it means the client does not want to close on that home because of it. I would rather we all know that a home is in poor condition and move on to finding a home that is good than to have an unhappy client in the future when the problems become more obvious.
Genworth Financial has published there summer 2007 "Housing Outlook" that provides insightful analysis of the Canadian real estate markets (nationally, provincially, and for major cities) as well as provides their predictions for the next few years.
The "Housing Outlook", according to Genworth Financial, look strong for the next few years with stead growth in home values as well as sales volumes (with a slight exception of new home sales in 2007). They sight economic factors like the strength of the Canadian Dollar and the growing GDP, personal incomes, and a variety of other national and regional factors in support of these views.
The price increases that they are predicting are higher than I was expecting, so if you are currently renting it would be a good idea to find out if you can afford a home and buy now before you are priced out of the market. a 0% down mortgage may have an insurance premium but it is, most often, worth it if you plan to live in the home for a few years, especially if the prices increase as Genworth predicts.
I am posting a copy of the
Toronto Housing Outlook on my
Toronto real estate "Market Watch" page for anyone to request. You do need to provide a valid email address as that is how it will be sent to you. Your privacy is assured and I will not send you endless spam or sell, give or otherwise disseminate your information to anyone except where required by the laws covering Ontario.
Currently renting? Do you want to know if you can afford a home? Call me at 416-278-2335 and we will find out with the help of one of my great mortgage professional. No obligations and credit issues may not be as big an issue as you thought, if you have credit issues.
Real estate markets in the Toronto area has far surpassed expectations in the first half of the year with just over 50,000 sales posted in the months of January to June. Going into July the activity seems to have decreased some what. This is to be expected slightly as many people flee the city for vacations to cottages or other more exotic locals, in order to escape the everyday life of a 9 to 5er's (or what ever hours one calls a work day).
This tends to have the biggest effect on the higher priced homes as the people most able to afford them are also the people who are most able to afford a cottage where they would rather be, rather than shuffling from house to house looking for the one that is significantly better than their current home, at a reasonable price.
The unadjusted sales numbers for July, (1st to 9:30am July 30th) is 8643 homes that were sold firm. This number is likely to be higher than the official numbers, posted by the Toronto Real Estate Board in the end of the first week of August, as they may contain some duplicate listings or land listings that were improperly categorized on the MLS® system. (sorry I do not have the access to perform those types of filters). This represents an increase of 22% over July 2006's 7082 homes sold through the Toronto MLS® system.
The
Toronto real estate sales volume for homes in June was 10,451 which means that July's sales are 17.3% less than in June. This may seem like a lot, but in 2006 the decrease was 18.9% and at the time we were calling it a very strong sales month.
It looks like we could be expecting close to, if not over 90,000 sales by the end of the year with steady price increases of as much as 5% over the previous year.
I will update you when the official numbers are posted.
Thanks to the efforts of the Toronto Real Estate Board and the general public, that lobbied the municipal government, the City of Toronto land transfer tax has been postponed until after the provincial election in October. There was a narrow win of 23 votes to 22 in favour of postponing a decission on this proposed tax.
Now we will all have to lobby the Ontario government to try and convince them that Toronto needs some financial help to keep it afloat, in order to avoid the real estate tax being passed shortly after the election is held.
Real estate in Toronto has remained a very hot market, however an increase in land transfer taxes would have a heavy effect on home values in the City of Toronto. That said anyone living just outside of the Toronto city boundaries might see a marked increase in their home's values.
• 3 bath, 4 bdrm 4-level split "Open concept" - MLS® #N1152523 $850,000 - Million dollar area
Cherry, Aurora - Incredible views and ultimate privacy can be found at the end of this exclusive cul de sac. The home has large open rooms, great for entertaining and the 2 decks, patio, hot tub and "Betz" in-ground pool are perfect for relaxing in this private get-a-way. minute to the 404 and the 400, shopping and schools you can have it all.
Don't miss out on this executive estate home, call today for your personal viewing.
Property information
not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.
A quick update for anyone who missed the announcement. The Government of Canada has passed Bill C37 which changes the minimum loan to value amounts for conventional mortgages.
What does this mean to you? In the past if you were borrowing more than 75% of the purchase price, or value of the property, you had to get CMHC or Genworth mortgage insurance. Now that Loan to Value amount has changed so that there is no need for high ratio mortgage insurance if you are borrowing less than 80% of the homes value. This move will save you a large chunk of change (over a thousand dollars) if you can come up with a 20% downpayment. For those that had been saving up to have a 25% downpayment and avoid the insurance premium, you can now put 20% down on a larger or better home, or spend the extra 5% on furniture, upgrades or savings.
Busy! That pretty much sums up the current greater Toronto Real Estate markets and why I have not posted in too long. February and March had very strong sale, just lower that Feb. and Mar. 2006, but April 2007 blew past April 2006's 8361 sales. With 9452 sales in April 2007 this sets a new record for April sales in the GTA real estate markets.
Even Oak Ridges, which I have mentioned was at risk of having an over supply of homes, sold about 30% of the listed homes in April 2007. The MLS® districts for Richmond Hill and Aurora sold between 30% and 40% of the available homes in April 2007. Newmarket sold 45% of its housing supply and Markham's N11 district sold almost 50% of the available homes with 298 out of 611 homes being sold in April 2007.
Average sales prices were also up in April 2007. Continuing low mortgage rates and the strong economy are still setting the stage for exceptional volumes of sales in the resale housing markets. Even with a slight increase in recent 5 year rates, we are seeing that homes that are priced correctly, and have had a reasonable amount of "staging", are selling fast.
The mid May sales volume is also on route for a new record high for May. With just over 5000 sales in the first 15 days of May 2007, home buyers are telling us that there is still a very strong resale demand.
If you are looking to move in the near future and do not want to waste time and energy, and want to find your perfect home as quickly as possible, call me at 416-278-2335 (direct line) and set up an appointment with myself or one of my associates. I look forward to providing you with fast, professional service focused on your needs.
