“Sales activity was quite strong during the first two weeks of April. If this level of activity is sustained for the remainder of the month, we could see April transactions close to last year’s record result. Positive economic news has kept households confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term,” said TREB President Bill Johnston.

The average selling price for firm deals reported through the first two weeks of April was $483,165, representing a 12 per cent increase over the average price of $430,271 reported during the same period last year.

“The number of homes listed for sale so far in 2011 has been below expectations. Market conditions have tightened, resulting in increased competition between home buyers and accelerating rates of average price growth,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

“The strong rate of price growth reported for the first two weeks of April should entice more households to list their homes for sale. This would result in more balanced market conditions and more moderate rates of price growth,” continued Mercer.

“While off the record pace experienced a year ago, the Greater Toronto Area  resale market has started the year on a solid footing. Home buyers in Toronto and surrounding areas continue to benefit from a diversity of housing types for sale at many different price points,” said Toronto Real Estate Board  President Bill Johnston.

The average selling price for January 2011 sales was $427,037, representing an increase of over four per cent compared to the average of $409,058 reported in January 2010.

“The average selling price is expected to grow at a moderate pace in 2011. Growth rates in the three to five per cent range will be sustainable from an affordability perspective,” said Jason Mercer, Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. View it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFTn3DolhA4.  

This is great news from the Canadian Real Estate Association. It is a free download from the iTunes store and also works (though is not as good) on your iPad. The best part is the GPS so it can be used on the move when you are sitting in from of a property to get the REALTOR.ca information.

Ottawa, ON – December 21, 2010 – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) today released its REALTOR.ca app for the Apple® iPhone®. REALTOR.ca is the most visited real estate website in Canada, listing on average some 350,000 properties at any time.

“This free application brings Apple iPhone users the features and functionality of the REALTOR.ca website, as well as some interesting device-specific features” said CREA president Georges Pahud. “Consumers today expect portable information and REALTORS® across Canada are happy to be providing this service.”

The free REALTOR.ca app is provided at no cost to consumers by Canada’s 100,000 REALTORS® and more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

The app provides users with the features and functionality of REALTOR.ca and takes advantage of Apple iPhone device features, such as:

•Using the handheld’s GPS technology:
◦Properties Near Me – get up-to-date property information, photos and driving directions;
◦New Listings Near Me – recent listings in the area you’re visiting;
◦Open Houses Near Me – find open houses near your present location;
◦My Agent – Contact either your agent(s), or the listing agent for more information about a specific property;
◦Property Search – Search for houses and properties across Canada, and connect with REALTORS® to view, buy or sell a property;
◦Personalized settings allowing the user to set default language, unit of measure, how properties are displayed, and search radius for “Near Me” searches;
◦Interactive BING mapping is embedded to allow focus on specific neighbourhoods; 
◦Scheduled Open Houses can be added to the device’s calendar.

“When considering one of life’s biggest financial transactions, easily accessible, detailed information about homes and neighbourhoods, as well as access to REALTORS®, helps people make well-informed decisions” stated Pahud.

With the addition of the Apple iPhone app, REALTOR.ca is now available for two of the most popular handheld device operating systems, as the Windows Phone 7® version was released in November. A BlackBerry app will be released in February 2011.

A setup guide has been posted online at www.crea.ca.

CREA is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations. CREA owns and operates the REALTOR.ca website, Canada’s most visited real estate resource for property buyers.

Here are their thoughts:

My own thoughts?

At last count 1/4 of 1% of Mortgages in Canada were in default where in the U.S. recently, over 12% of Mortgages were delinquent. Have a look at the charts above.

When interest rates really increase (more than one or two points) and immigration to Canada drops, we will have a serious correction.

Until…expect the market to have seasonal fluctuations and the normal peaks and valleys moving through a Seller’s, Balanced and a Buyer’s market.

If you are waiting to buy and being counselled not to, remember that you must live somewhere and that buying rather than renting allows you to build equity….especially if you can make use of the Today’s lower rates to pay down financing or make improvements.

For the full report see: http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_105.pdf

Your thoughts? Feel free to comment below!

Here is some information from Ann the Downsizing GURU! :

Has your home become overrun with clutter and you just don’t know how to deal with all the ‘stuff’ that you’ve collected? Don’t worry, there’s a new service in town designed specifically to help you with this dilemma – it’s called Declutter and Downsize.  We offer a range of practical and effective services for home organization. Depending on your situation, we will help you organize your current home or manage the details involved in relocating.

Ann Christie, Founder of Declutter and Downsize understands that everyone accumulates ‘stuff’.  Too quickly it’s a struggle, and often paralyzing, to figure out where to start or how you will ever get organized again.  That’s why Declutter and Downsize was started. 

The process begins with a free one hour consultation, in your home, to learn more about you, your requirements and wishes. From there a plan and timeline are developed for carrying out the decluttering or downsizing process together. We work with you to sort and organize your belongings to determine what to keep, what to give away to family or friends, what to sell or donate and finally, what to recycle or discard.  Your space will be transformed into organized functional areas that are easy to maintain, and if you are downsizing, you can look forward to a worry-free move. During the transition you will learn the skills involved in preserving an orderly home.

 To see how Declutter and Downsize can be of service to you, please call 416-961-1406 or email ann@declutteranddownsize.com.

The idea is that the Seller and Realtor bring a property to the market through the TorontoMLS system with a note in the Broker’s remarks that although showing can commence at the time of listing, offers, if any, will be reviewed at a later date.

What is the reason for this? Are the Realtor and Seller manipulating the market to force multiple offers in an Auction-like scenario? Could be…but that can also backfire…What happens if, at the end of the time period, no offers appear or an offer appears that the Seller is unwilling to accept.

In the last case scenario, if a Realtor advertises a property on the market, knowing that the Seller has seen a full price, unconditional offer and not accepted it, then there is a case for “false advertising” that can be forwarded to the Real Estate Council of Ontario . The Seller and Realtor then should increase the listing price to a price that they know the Seller will accept. This can affect the marketing in a negative way.

I always counsel my Sellers that the list price must be a price that they would be okay to accept. It may not be their goal…mine is a 27 inch waist but that ship has already sunk.

I am a big supporter of holding off offers but let me tell you why:

1. The market has been very fluid over the past few years with comparables selling all over the map. Pricing is not an exact science and if you were to ask five Realtors for their thoughts they would probably all be different….as would the Seller’s.
2. Pricing has a lot to do with how many Buyers there are in the marketplace for that kind of property at that time. One week there might be five Buyer for a type of property and the next week, there might be one. Timing is everything and sometimes unexpected prices are reached because of the scarcity of product  that week.
3. I want to make sure that my Sellers and I are not left with the thought that there might be more money on the table; that we could of had by more by waiting for another offer.

By bringing the property to the market, advertising on all the channels that are available including Agent’s Open Houses as well as Public Open Houses (Answering The Commission Question ) and then looking at offers a few days later, the Agent has done his due diligence to make sure that the property sells for the best price possible and the open market will set the price.

There is a lot of discussion going on led by the Competition Bureau  and forces that want to “open up” the MLS  and the Real Estate industry. Along with that discussion comes a lot of vitriol and misinformation about what it is that REALTORS do. We seem to have become the target for some who are not being totally clear about their agenda and who jump on sound bite after sound bite. If there is to be a discussion then it should be an honest one.

The sound bites tell you that CREA  has had a hand in stopping Competition. There are a variety of models out there at present, have been for many years and they offer lots of choice to the consumer. Organized Real Estate has never restricted consumer’s options to MLS as long as these use a licensed REALTOR. The reality is that some of those models were not attractive to the consumer and it is the consumer that did not adopt them. That happens in any marketplace…sometimes the best widget does not sell because the marketplace is not ready or there is no perceived need.

The sound bites tell you it is all about bringing down commission but the Competition Bureau’s findings did not touch the rules dealing with commission, they only talk about CREA rules around “representation”.  In other words, the Bureau wants unrepresented listings to be able to be put on the MLS system. Listings where the Buyer will have to satisfy himself that the information is correct and not misrepresented. At present and with all the due diligence that the listing agent is to do there are still properties that slip through the cracks….wouldn’t this only make it worse. Is the lawyer led Competition Bureau really concerned about the consumer or looking to move the transaction to the Lawyer’s office rather than the Realtor’s office?

The sound bites tell you about the massive amounts of money that REALTORS make so easily. We only get paid on the closing of the transaction yet there is an outlay (for myself) of anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 of costs before the property comes to the market, and sometimes those properties do not sell because it is the Seller who pays if the offer is acceptable to them. Numerous listings come to the market overpriced, sit while agents try every option out there to market the house, get moved to another Company and finally sell or come off the market. How come we are not hearing from those sellers? How come we are not hearing from the Buyers who ask for information, have us show them multiple properties and buy from a friend with not even a thank you? How come we are not hearing from those Buyers?

We are told of Multiple Offers however in the best of markets they have been the exception and not the rule. Sellers and REALTORS not involved in multiple offers don’t have the war stories that generate the media and news hype. There are no records of  Multiple Offers but I would think they have occurred in less than 20% of the transactions over the last few years.

In all sales there seems to be an 80-20 rule and there are a lot of Realtors who are not able to pay their bills because they do not make enough money. I am one of two people left  from a class of over 60 that began when I did. Every year more people get licensed and every year many leave the business disheartened. 

What they thought would be an easy job, turns out is not. There is no security, there is no retirement plan, there is a general rule that one third of your gross income will go to expenses, one third will go to taxes and you will have one third to live on. That is made up, not from the 5% or 6 % that is quoted all the time, but MLS is a cooperative that gives half to the cooperating agent and then splits that balance between you and your Broker. However the sound bites tell you of the agent who made $30,000 on a sale…which becomes $15,000 with the co-operating agent, which becomes $7500 with the Broker and at the end of the day becomes $2500 in the Realtors pocket (once expenses and the Government have their share). However, that does not make the same sound bite does it? 

Choosing to be a REALTOR means that you will not have a 40 hour week, not have privacy in your community (people think nothing of stopping you and asking your advice with no intention of ever paying you for it), and will only be as successful as your last transaction. We live by the rule that if you do something nice for someone, chances are they will tell no one, however, should you do something they consider bad, they will tell everyone. Reputation is everything and God forbid if you become too successful at what you do…

All Realtors are mandated to have continuing Education Courses and cannot be re-licensed without 24 credits every two year period, 6 credits deal with updates from the Provincial Regulator. This is not even required of our teachers in the Province of Ontario. What will we require of education for unrepresented Sellers?

MLS  has been something like a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval”. It means that there has been due diligence in bringing the property into the system and that there is a third party who not only warrants the quality of the listing but if there are issues, there is a party that has errors and omissions insurance as mandated by the Provincial Regulator. What potential landmines will we face under this new direction? Will money saved inREALTORS  fees be paid to Lawyers instead? Please note that Lawyers get paid whether the transaction is successful or not, unlike REALTORS.

I am someone who is all ready for a discussion and to embrace change but let’s see if we can get some honest discussion happening and deal with the real issues instead of the vitriol and hidden agendas of those saying that they are out to help the consumer.

www.DowntownTorontoNews.com

Every morning I get up, head to the front door, pick up my Globe and Mail  and skip happily to the Toronto Section. What happens in the rest of the world and the world economy is important, but nothing engages me like breaking new in Toronto. Sadly, I find myself with the feeling that I am missing a lot of the Toronto goings-on, and head to the Internet going to several sources to keep up to date.

Through some very talented friends at Domus Consulting Group  we have launched a new Internet site called Downtown Toronto News.

It is described as curating the best Twitter feeds in Toronto so you can find out what’s happening – events, shopping deals, sports, even traffic, and of course, Real Estate- at this very moment.  Access Downtown Toronto News at the website, on Twitter at @TorontoDowntown and on Facebook.

I hope that you will check it out and follow us on the site, Twitter and Facebook for the latest in Downtown Toronto News as it breaks. I hope you enjoy it and if you’d like to suggest feeds that should be added just add comments below.