Toronto, ON

July 20,2010

Toronto house sales sink 23% in JuneToronto-area Realtors sold 8,442 resale homes in June, a 23 per cent drop from the level of the same month a year ago. Though down from recent highs, real estate sales remains high in Canada's largest city. Year-to-date sales through June were up 23 per cent to 50,455 compared to the first six months of 2009.

CBC Wed Jul 07 2010 - Toronto Star - National Post - Canada News Wire

Home sales continue to cool in June Statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association show that the number of newly listed homes and sales activity declined in June 2010. Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service(R) (MLS(R)) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards receded 8.2 per cent in June from the previous month. Led by lower activity in Toronto and Calgary, sales declined in almost 70 per cent of local markets.

Canada News Wire Fri Jul 16 2010 - Financial Post - Financial Post (second article)

Q&A with TD Economist Pascal Gauthier: What's next for Canada's housing market?Canada's housing market is cooling off after its record-setting pace in the post-recession period. The Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday that existing home sales fell 8.2 per cent in June from a month earlier, largely because of a slower pace in Toronto and Calgary. The national average resale price dipped 1.2 per cent, to $342,662, from May's record $346,881.

Globe and Mail Fri Jul 16 2010

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

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    Frank Petriglia   (Click here to contact agent)
    Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

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David Yunker, CRB (Click here to contact agent)
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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty, Brokerage*

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

September 2009

Fall Market Forecast

The GTA real estate market continues to outperform 2008 results in an impressive fashion. In August of this year, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reported 8,035 house sales, up 27% from the 6,318 reported in 2008. What is more significant is that this year, TREB has reported approximately 60,000 house sales in the GTA market to the end of August. Even if we experience a conservative Fall with sales in the area of 20,000 homes, TREB would easily exceed last year’s total unit sales by at least 5,000 units. TREB’s current estimate is that the market will achieve between 80,000 to 85,000 by the end of the year (versus over 76,400 transactions last year).

The average price in August 2009 hit $338,000, which represents a 6% increase over the 2008 average selling price of $318,000 in August of the prior year. The increases in prices are to be expected given the significant shortage of inventory (1.9 months on hand). The days on market (another measure of inventory) averaged 29 days in 2009 versus 36 days in 2008.

Yet, we have seen a distinct trend in the market from the peak in June where the average price of a GTA property hit $345,000 and almost 11,000 units (10,955 to be precise). The big question is how does the Fall look? Will this Fall be a repeat of 2008? Or will the low interest rates continue to drive the real estate market?

To answer this question we have to examine which direction the economy is going, and what impact will it have on the real estate market in the GTA. The interest rate cuts by the U.S. and Canadian Federal governments provide a significant economic stimulus, which has continued to drive the market for big-ticket sales such as homes and cars. These rate cuts have had a major impact on the Canadian market place. Nonetheless, the economic results in the U.S. continue to lag. The demand for big-ticket items has seen no significant change in the U.S. This lag continues to depress the Canadian manufacturing sectors, which export to the U.S. (i.e. autos).

In spite of Ben Bernanke’s recent comments, there are many indications that the recession in the U.S. has not ended, especially in the minds of the consumer. Unlike Canada, consumer confidence is not strong, and this translates into a lack of manufacturing demand. And this in turn affects job growth not only in the U.S., but here in Canada. In fact, Canadian job growth is not expected to see any significant change until the second half of 2010, when economic forecasts predict a reversal of this trend and growth in Canadian employment numbers. When the consumer price index (CPI) begins to show positive continued growth, we can expect tightening of the monetary policy and increases in interest rates to reduce the fear of inflation.

What does all this mean to the real estate consumer? Quite simply, mortgage rate increases impact home affordability, so when these increases come – and at some point they will – we can expect the market to slow down from the active pace we have seen in recent months.

In summary, the fourth quarter (the fall market of 2009) looks very positive from a real estate perspective. Both governments will expect to continue to keep low interest rates, which provide a huge incentive for new buyers and move-up buyers to jump in the real estate market. We expect this trend to continue until spring 2010. At that point, forecasts call for positive job growth and the resulting growth in the CPI, which would change the government’s focus from reviving the economy to controlling the inflation through higher interest rates. Don’t miss this six-month window of opportunity, especially as the typical November/December slow down approaches.

Andrew C. Zsolt, Ca, Mba, Fri, is the founder and Broker of Record of Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty, Brokerage – the number one Coldwell Banker franchise real estate brokerage in Canada. Andrew has made appearances in The Globe & Mail as well as The Toronto Star as a notable real estate expert.

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September 2009

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

June 2009

GTA Resale Housing Sales Up 19 Per Cent in the First Half of June

TORONTO, June 17, 2009 - Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 5,185 transactions in the first half of June – an increase of 19 per cent compared to the same period last year.

"Households in the GTA have become more confident in purchasing a home over the past three months," said TREB President Maureen O’Neill. "Affordability, due in part to very low borrowing costs, has played a key role."

The average price for MLS® sales was $407,716, up by two per cent compared to last year. "Heightened interest in ownership housing this spring has solidified resale home prices," according to Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The number of home buyers has been high relative to the number of listings, pushing the average price above last year's level.”

Summary Of Mid-June Sales And Average Price

June June

2009 2008

Sales Average Price Sales Average Price

City of Toronto ("416") 2,023 $449,946 1,733 $439,469

Rest of GTA ("905") 3,162 $380,698 2,641 $371,686

GTA 5,185 $407,716 4,374 $398,542

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

For a complete copy of the Market Watch Report visit www.TorontoRealEstateBoard.com

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

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February 2009

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

GTA Resale Housing Stable in July

August 6, 2008-- With 7,806 transactions recorded last month, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) resale housing market continued at a moderate pace in July, Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Maureen O’Neill announced today. Prices remained stable throughout the GTA in July.

At $371,427 the average price increased slightly more than one per cent from $366,012 recorded in July 2007 and nine per cent from the $342,034 figure of two years ago. In the City of Toronto the average price of $395,342 increased less than one per cent from the July 2007 price of $395,044 and 10 per cent from the July 2006 figure of $360,409. In the 905 Region the average price increased three per cent to $355,401 compared to the July 2007 figure of $345,967. This also represents an eight per cent increase from the July 2006 average of $329,644.

“Sales declined 12 per cent last month from the best-ever July 2007 record of 8,912 but increased 10 per cent from the 7,082 sales transacted in July 2006,” said Ms. O’Neill. “Comparing July 2007 with July 2006, sales increased by 26 per cent.”

In the City of Toronto 3,132 sales were recorded, down 14 per cent from July 2007’s 3,640 transactions but up 10 per cent from the 2,852 sales recorded two years ago in 2006. Comparing July 2007 with July 2006, a period before the Land Transfer tax went into effect in Toronto, sales increased 28 per cent. In the 905 Region there were 4,674 transactions, down 11 per cent from July 2007’s 5,272 sales but up 10 per cent from the 4,230 sales recorded in July 2006. Comparing July 2007 with July 2006, sales increased 25 per cent. From a year-to-date perspective, the GTA’s 51,249 sales in 2008 have declined 14 per cent from the 59,339 reached at this time a year ago.

Certain neighbourhoods throughout the GTA experienced increased sales activity in July. In Whitby (E15) sales increased 22 per cent from July 2007, based on strong sales in most housing types. Brampton East (W24) saw a 12 per cent increase, based primarily on semi-detached home sales. Strong detached home sales drove Uxbridge (N16) to a 23 per cent increase compared to a year ago. The Annex (C02) experienced a 29 per cent sales increase due to strong detached home and condominium apartment sales. In addition to stable prices, the list to sale price ratio, at 98 per cent, remains unchanged from a year ago.

“While homeowners continue to see healthy returns, it is taking slightly longer to achieve a sale; the average time on market has increased to 33 days compared to 31 days a year ago,” said Ms. O’Neill. “This may be due to that fact that there is now more choice available to homebuyers; there are currently 26,543 active listings, a 28 per cent increase from a year ago.”

Created: 08/06/2008 Modified: 08/06/2008

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Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty

From RBC's Special Report on Housing Affordability across Canada published March 2008:

Toronto - more moderation in 2008

Affordability across Toronto deteriorated modestly for bungalows and townhomes and stabilized for condos and two-storeys. An overall improving affordability trend is expected in 2008 as new home and resale markets cool off amidst an increasingly lower mortgage rate environment. It is difficult to speak of the Toronto market without drilling into the different pockets of strength within the city. The core Toronto area remains tight and continues to bias the headline numbers up. Outside of the core, several other sub-regions will see a continued moderation in average house price growth in 2008. To date, the condo market has proved quite resilient with house prices still growing at a 10% year-over-year pace. However, a sizeable increase in supply coming to market over the next two years is expected to shave some of the excitement off price growth.

Mortgage Carrying Costs

House Prices

Resale Market

Ontario - slower economy, improved affordability

As the province teeters on the brink of recession through 2008, we expect the impacts of slower growth (largely stemming from slower job growth and wage gains) to restrain housing activity in 2008. The annual pace of income growth for the fourth quarter of 2007 came in at the slowest pace among the provinces. Housing starts are still expected to remain elevated but should decline from 2007 levels. Affordability conditions deteriorated across all home segments but the pace of deterioration slowed. We expect this trend to continue in 2008 as some affordability relief materializes through a lower mortgage rate environment, softer price gains, and an overall slower economic growth profile.