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Richmond Hill Ontario Real Estate (RSS)
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.
The Toronto Real Estate Board has published the Market Watch issue for January 2007. Claiming that the year has started with a boom. Over the all of the districts for the Toronto MLS® system there were more sales than in any other recorded January, with a total 5,173 homes sold. This is an increase of 12.8% over last years January. The North districts had an increase of over all sales but there were a few surprises when looking at individual areas.
On a positive note,
Richmond Hill home sales saw an increase in sales volume and in the N03 district the average home sale price surged forward 17.7%, over Jan 2006, to $426,800. On the other hand
Aurora, Ontario, home sales volumes stayed almost the same and the average sale price decreased by 12.8% from Jan 2006.
But wait, Don't PANIC. These are both examples of why statistics are dangerous. Although it is true that the average sale price in Aurora, Ontario, was down by a whopping 12.8% that does not mean that the average home has lost 12.8% of its value. It only means that the home buyers that were active enough to purchase homes, in January 2007, were looking for homes that were (on average) 12.8% lower in price than those looking in 2006. So more homes in lower price ranges sold and fewer of the higher priced homes sold. In February we may see far more of the $600,000 plus homes sell and the average sale price could jump to $500,000 or more. All because the home buyers in that price range may be chaffing at not having found the right home in January and so those sales may tip the scale in the opposite direction. Either way the value of the average home is not nearly as volatile as the average home sale price.
"Lies, damn lies and statistics" I can never remember which famous person said it but it is still true. I will keep providing them because everyone always wants to know, that and I need to analyse them for myself and my clients anyways, but one always has to keep in mind that although the statistics do not lie, the perspective that one uses the statistic may not always reveal the truth.
If you have questions about the
Richmond Hill, Aurora or York Region real estate markets please feel free to ask me. I would love to help you with all of your real estate experiences.
Andrew Hodge
Real estate markets in York Region and the Toronto area finished 2006 with a bang. With December, 2006, home sales up be 4.5% in volume, over Dec. 2005, the year ended only 1.1% behind 2005, with a total of 83,084
homes sold through the Toronto Real Estate Board's MLS®. The Average price, in 2006, across the TREB MLS® was $351,941 up from $335,907 in 2005.
In Richmond Hill and Aurora the volume of sales decreased slightly, with the exception of the N05 district (Richmond Hill North of Gamble Rd including Oak Ridges and several newer developments like Macleod's Landing, Tribute's "Inspiration, Bond Lake, The Humberlands, etc...) which saw an increase of sales volume by 17.6%. The average sale price in N05 increased by 6% to $455,973 and the median home sale price is up 5.3% to $430,500.
The majority of these increases can be attributed to the vast amount of development that has occurred over the last 7 years that have changed the area from farm fields into residential neighbourhoods. In years gone by the number of sales was limited by availability, however in 2006 there were 1,804 homes listed on the TREB MLS® in N05, an increase of 34%. These newer homes are larger and sell for higher prices that what was traditionally found in the Oak Ridges area before. Even since last year there are more new homes being sold by speculators, many of which are asking $600,000 and up.
The value of these homes is substantial and it is attracting the attention of a "higher price range" audience. This has had a dramatic effect on the increase in average home sales prices, causing the average price to increase faster than the actual increase in value for a particular home. This change in the areas buyer and housing demographics could cause issues if the average home owner is lead to believe that their home has increase in value by 6%, and want to "cash in". Home values for individual homes has only risen between 2% to 3% from what I have seen, but brand new homes are getting a premium.
The N05 district also has the lowest home sales to active listings ratio in Richmond Hill at 21.2% which could lead to decreases in price if there is a large enough number of sellers that "have" to sell instead of just "wanting" sell. with 45 homes sold in December 2006 (up from 37 in 2005) if 50 out of the 259 homes that are available (as of 9:29 am Jan 18th 2007) "have" to be sold this month then watch for prices to drop. However, sellers in the area have mostly been "wanting" to sell and have not over committed themselves too heavily.
Looking for
homes for sale in Richmond Hill, Ontario or thinking of selling and want to know your
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Home's Value? I am here to help you achieve your goals of a smooth move into your perfect home. I look forward to working with you soon
Andrew Hodge
Another month has passed and November, 2006, continued to show strong sales volume, if a bit lower than last year.
Across the Toronto Real Estate Board's MLS® system there were 6,281 homes sold in November 2006. Which is lower than 2005's 6,646 home but very close to 2004's 6,301 homes sold, for the month of November. There is also a larger number of homes on the market. In the November Statistics, in the Toronto Real Estate Board's Market Watch publication, there were 22,981 active listings.
The average sale price across the region was $355,727 with a median sale price of $298,000.
For Richmond hill, or the 3 districts that encompass Richmond Hill (N03, N04 and N05) there was 268 homes sold in November 2006, down from the 311 homes in Nov 2005, and 1168 active listings. 150 of those homes sold were freehold detached homes, 45 were apartment condominiums and 41 were freehold townhouses.
For Richmond Hill, in November 2006, the statistical breakdown is as follows:
District ...Number of .....Average .........Median
................Homes Sold ....Sale Price......Sale Price
Total .............268........... $426,201....... N/A
N03 ...............122 ...........$405,630 .....$345,000
N04 .................84 ...........$399,432 ......$383,500
N05 .................62............$502,948 ......$460,750
Number of Richmond Hill home sold by type and district in November 2006
Type ..........................Total .....N03 .....N04 .....N05
Detached (FH) .............150 ......50 ........54 ........46
Semi-Detached (FH) .....12 ........4 ...........6 ..........2
Condo Apartment ..........45 .......39 .........6 ..........0
Link (FH) ........................8 ..........3 ........0 ..........5
Condo Townhouse .........12 ........11 ........1 ..........0
Townhouse (FH) ............41 .......15 ........17 .........9
(I really wish that I could find a nice easy way to put in tables)
It is interesting to note that the least expensive district, based on average detached home sales prices, was the N04 district with an average sale price of $452,989. Where as N03 was $589,002 and N05 was $562,530.
This may be related to N03 being closer to Toronto (a traditionally accepted factor in increased prices) and N05 having a lot of newer homes in new developments like "Macleod's Landing", Tribute's "Inspiration", "Bond Lake" and "Fountain Blue" as well as some of the developments from the past 7 years like "The Humberlands", "Kingshill", "Jefferson Forest" and several others. Some of these "older developments are still under construction or are having additional developments branching off of them.
The bottom line is that the real estate markets are still moving along at a strong pace. However, the house values in the Richmond Hill, and all of the Toronto and surrounding districts, are increasing at a much more moderate pace and there is much more competition for the attention of the available home buyers
Notes: The statistics above are based on the numbers published by the Toronto Real Estate Board in their
real estate "Market Watch" newsletter which you can download
HERE. These numbers are based on sale prices and do not represent actual values of any particular type of home. For a value on your current home I would be happy to provide you with a
free home evaluation.
I have also started another blog on my main website and I would love to hear what you think of it. Please take a look at my
Richmond Hill, Aurora and York Region Real Estate Blog. It is new and I am trying to decide if it is going to replace this blog or provide other information or insights. Any suggestions are welcome (SOE, consumer usability, etc...)
Sorry for any delay in posting the Richmond Hill home sales
statistics. I am preparing for my own move and adding packing, planning and any required arrangements on top of my clients needs has led to my blog being put on the back burner.
So Richmond Hill had another great month in October 2006. The Real Estate markets are still moving strong with the south end of Richmond Hill actually increasing in sales volume over September. The number of available homes for sale in Richmond Hill, Ontario, decrease slightly since September 2006 as is typical of the late fall markets. Home sales in Richmond Hill are predominantly Detached homes with Condo Apartments in the south end of Richmond Hill (N03 district which includes a small portion of Markham and Vaughan) providing a strong second housing option.
The average home sale price in the South end of Richmond Hill, for October 2006, was $404,637 with a median price of $351,600. This is up from an average of $389,187 in October 2005 even though the median price dropped from $417,000. The change in median price reflects the increase in Condo sales and the decrease in detached homes. That said the price of the average detached home that sold was significantly higher than last year creating and overall increase in the average sale price.
In the N04 district or middle section of Richmond Hill the demand is still mainly for detached home. There was a slight decrease in both listings and sales effecting a relatively unchanged Sales to Active listings ratio. The average sale price was $420,927 up from last years average of $397,414. Where as the median home sale price was down to $412,500 from $417,000. This decrease in median sale price reflects the decrease in detached home sales and the increase in townhouse sales for this district.
In the North end of Richmond Hill (District No5), which includes Oak Ridges and Jefferson forest, there has been an increase in sales volume, from 44 homes up to 58 home sales in October 2006, which has been dwarfed by the increase in active listings, which is now 314 homes for sale instead of the 259 homes that were available in 2005 in October. Once again this part of Richmond Hill is dominated by detached homes and the average sale price has jumped from $397,682 in Oct 2005 to $458,656 in October 2006. The median sale price also increased in a similar fashion to the average settling in at $447,000 in Oct. 2006.
As you can see there has been some of the usual seasonal adjustments in market activity, and a larger than expected increase in average sale prices. It is important to note that the average sale price does not necessarily represent the changes in value of the average home, only the average sale price of the homes that were sold. This value is subject to the type of home buyers that are capable and motivated to purchase in today's market.
If you are interested in moving in the future and wish to know what your home is worth, you can get a free Richmond Hill home evaluation.
