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York Region Real Estate (RSS)
Looking for your first home?
On Saturday November 27th 2010, come join myself (Andrew Hodge- sales representative with Right At Home Realty Inc. - Brokerage), John Hum (RBC residential mortgage specialist) and Gerry Quackenbush (GTA Home Inspections and the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors) to find out what you need to know and what to expect from your home buying experience. Come and find out how to make your search easier and more productive as well as a number of pitfalls that should be avoided.
What kind of mortgage is right for you? What does a home inspector really do? What are the differences in buying a freehold home, condominium or a co-op? New or previously enjoyed? How much money do you need and when? How does a Buyer Representation Agreement effect you or protect you and what can you do about them? These and many other questions will be discussed giving you the information to move forwards with your home buying plans with confidence; knowing that the choices that you make are the right ones for you.
Location:
Royal Bank of Canada branch at 2786 Victoria Park Ave (just south of Finch at Van Horne)
starting at 11:00 am and running until 2:00 pm (to answer all of your questions)
Space is limited so please call to register in advance at 416-481-3923.
Attending could save you thousands of dollars on your purchase through my special event offer.
The real estate markets so far this year have been exceptionally active, with near all time record monthly sales volumes and fairly significant increases in average home sale prices. In June we saw a drop in sales to, a still reasonable, 8,442 home sales, with an average home sale price of $435,034.
The big news is that this year the "normal" pattern has changed. With May and June showing progressive decreases in volume when in most years they would be the most active sales months. As far as the Toronto real estate markets are concerned; it is like we are 2 months ahead of normal, peaking in April instead of June. So, why? Well a big part of this is probably related to the perceived expenses related to the now active HST. The idea of avoiding the HST, by closing before July 1st 2010, and paying 8% less for all related services has made home buyers extra eager to move this spring.
The people who have benefited the most from this strong spring has been the Sellers, since they are the ones that usually pay for the real estate agents commissions, which account for the biggest part of the increased expenses. Yes, a REALTOR®'s services are not cheap, although I would argue that they are very often worth what you pay.... but I am a little biased on that one.
So what does this mean for the real estate markets over the nest few months. Well, if you are a buyer it is a great time to get very active in your search. The main reason for that is that there is a fairly good sized supply of homes and a fair number of the general public are still thinking that the HST makes buying a house a lot more expensive, so they may postpone their searches for a while. That combined with the usual summer market conditions that often cause a slight dip in sales volumes in the summer may add up to some great deals with less buying competition. A great opportunity to find a motivated Seller for the cost of around $160 in taxes on your closing costs. That's it, only $160, since the Buyer's agent is most often paid for by the Sellers through the Seller's agent.
In the long term, being later this year and on, we will probably see that people become apathetic with the HST, taking it for granted, just like we all did with the GST shortly after it was introduced. At that time it will be business as usual. As for the potential for reductions in the costs of services; I think that is unlikely, based also on the experiences of the GST.
The GST was supposed to take the "hidden taxes" that were paid throughout the production and distribution process and give them transparency, for the consumer, buy summing them up at the end point of sale so that everyone knew how much tax they were really paying. By allowing the businesses to claim the tax credits, as they purchased materials and other business expenses, the end price of products and services were supposed to go down at least relative to the savings the companies would get. However, I doubt that many people can say that they saw any significant decrease in retail prices that could be contributed to the GST system instead of improvements in efficiencies, cheaper imported materials or foreign labour markets and the aspects of competition related them. This is also likely to be the case in the real estate markets.
Competition in the real estate markets already means that commissions have become much more flexible in the past seven, plus, years that I have been a full time real estate sales representative. It have changed the face of many of the real estate brokerages throughout the Greater Toronto Area giving rise to brokerages like Right At Home Realty Inc., who focus on providing their representatives with the services that are required without having to charge for extra "brick and mortar" office space that the REALTORS® are, very often, not using. This allows the individual REALTOR® to be more competitive and quicker to respond to clients needs that in many traditional brokerages, which is the main reason that I, and many more, moved ( for me it was from a Century 21 franchise to Right At Home almost 4 years ago).
But I digress... The real estate markets are likely to see a slight dip in sales over the next couple of months to be followed by a small surge, as buyer's realize that they still need to have a home to live in and that the costs are still just as affordable as they were in the spring. This would be similar, although smaller in effect, to the market reaction at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 when the perception of the world coming to an end, through world recession and the U.S.A.'s election uncertainties. In the end life had to go on and people still needed to buy and sell homes and, statistically speaking, they were still affordable even as they do today.
So, If you are thinking of buying a home now is a great time to get actively searching with the help of someone like myself. If you are looking to sell you can still expect a fairly good price, but the higher your urgency to sell is the more likely you will have to be prepared to negotiate with offers that have lower initial offerings. At the end of the day both the Buyers and the Sellers have to agree to the value of the property in order to get a sale and everyone involved needs to be realistic in order for that to happen (with the exception that all parties have equally unrealistic expectations that lean in the same direction and nobody, like a REALTOR®, educates the parties [particularly their Client if a REALTOR® is involved] to the true value of the current real estate values). The Greater Toronto Area'a real estate markets are not about to stall completely and we are still likely to see healthy sales throughout the rest of the year so there is no need to panic in either direction, but it is always wise to get representation and know what are realistic expectations for your needs.
More in depth statistical reviews for Richmond Hill, Aurora and York Region's real estate markets will be posted soon.
Please feel free to call or email me if you are considering buying or selling a home, in York Region or the Toronto area, to get insightful representation and the results that we all want.
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.
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.
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.
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.
