Richard Silver

Archive for January, 2010

The Canadian Real Estate Market: Consumer confidence in Canada ends on a stronger footing in 2009

Below is a great article from the Canadian Real Estate Association  about the levels in Consumer Confidence  as one moves across Canada: National consumer confidence ended the year 2009 on a stronger footing compared to pre-recession levels, despite having edged down slightly the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.  According to the Conference Board of Canada’s  index of consumer confidence, confidence eased slightly in the fourth quarter for the first time in three quarterly periods.  The decrease in confidence reflects weakening sentiment...Continue Reading...

Impressions of REBarCampNYC and Inman Connect NYC 2010!

So I have been home a week and trying to make sense of all the information that I gleaned in the four hectic days of meetings in New York City. Instead of the usual "Blow by Blow" and who said what, I will just give you some of my impressions: First and foremost, the four days were all about Social Media . Like it or not, just the way we used to say that Realtors with Technology will replace Realtors without it, now,...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate: January 2010: Why You Should Be Listing For Sale Now!

Toronto MLS ListingsView more documents from Richard Silver.There is a Toronto phenomenon which repeats every year: As you can see from the graph above, listings are really reduced in January, February and March and the inventory goes up drastically in April.  At the same time, there are a lot of buyers...there is talk of multiple offers on market-priced properties. Sadly the Toronto Real Estate Board  has no way to track the number of Buyers in the marketplace but if you talk to...Continue Reading...

Canadian Real Estate Association – 2009 Resale Housing Market Ends On a High Note.

Existing home sales activity reached the highest level ever for the month of December, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association . Strong demand in the second half of 2009, especially in the fourth quarter, pushed annual sales above 2008 levels. Residential sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of Canadian real estate boards numbered 27,744 units in December 2009. This stands 72 per cent above activity in December 2008, when activity dropped to the lowest level in...Continue Reading...

GREATER TORONTO AREA REALTORS® REPORTING JANUARY MID-MONTH HOUSING STATISTICS

TORONTO, January 18, 2010  Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 1,749 existing home sales on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) during the first two weeks of January. This result was almost double the 888 sales reported for the same period in 2009, when sales had dipped to a recessionary low. “We have had a strong start to 2010,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Tom Lebour.“Widespread sales growth in terms of geography and housing type indicates that many households remain confident in their...Continue Reading...

Lessons in Customer Service: Holland America’s Onboard Internet Service.

While on a Holland America  Cruise recently, I messaged my Facebook and Twitter friends that I was enjoying the "Techspert" classes that they had on-board.  Like a lot of Companies today, Holland America , is monitoring the Blogosphere and Tweetosphere and I heard back quickly that they "were happy I was enjoying myself". My response was to tell them that although I was, I thought that their Internet charges ($100 for 250 minutes) were excessive in view of the poor service (back to...Continue Reading...

TRAVEL: Antarctica, Part 3

Here is Part 3 of our trip from Santiago Chile to Rio de Janeiro with 4 days in Antarctica... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=669xQFSx6w4[/youtube] Here are the photos of our trip to Antarctica, a 20 day cruise on HollandAmerica from Chile to Brazil. (more...)Continue Reading...

TRAVEL: Antarctica, Part 2

Part 2 of our photos from the trip: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWuAqksfWPU[/youtube] Here are the photos of our trip to Antarctica, a 20 day cruise on HollandAmerica from Chile to Brazil. (more...)Continue Reading...

TRAVEL: Antarctica Trip Part 1

Here is Part 1 of our photos of Antarctica. The trip was from Santiago Chile' to Rio de Janeiro and is in 3 parts. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcZOSqkQVuU[/youtube] Here are the photos of our trip to Antarctica, a 20 day cruise on HollandAmerica from Chile to Brazil. (more...)Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board Releases Housing Market Graphs for December 2009

The Toronto Real Estate Board has released it's most recent Housing Market Graphs. Of note, is the last page which notes that over the past couple of years, affordability has increased in the Greater Toronto Area. This would account to the strong market we have been having despite the world-wide economic downturn. I always find these housing charts a great read as they compare the last three years and help to add some perspective that month by month statistics cannot....Continue Reading...