I checked Parkdale out at the time, loved the great Victorian houses, liked the reasonable prices and saw great potential as a neighbourhood. I showed those houses, sold some of them, and have been waiting for years for the area to really soar. I’m still waiting.

Entry to the Parkdale market has always offered value but reselling a substantially renovated property has always been the challenge.

The Good: Great proximity to High Park , Roncesvalles  shopping and Liberty Village  as well as 24-hour transit and some of the best Victorian homes in the city.

The Bad: The area is still rough along the edges and you may not see the return on investment that you would in other neighbourhoods. Parking is a premium in this area, as in all areas that predate the automobiles; however the large number of rental apartments makes it even worse.

So love it for the housing stock and the proximity to a lot of what is great about Toronto . But as far as a long-term investment is concerned, you will be waiting like I am.

Richard Silver  is a salesperson with Bosley Real Estate Ltd  and blogs at torontoism.com 

Re-posted From: INToronto Magazine .

“The prospect of interest rate hikes and new mortgage lending rules prompted some households to purchase a home sooner than they otherwise would have this year. The result has been a larger than normal dip in sales over the summer months. With this said, it is important to recognize that sales on the year were eight per cent higher than in 2009,” said Toronto Real Estate Board  President Bill Johnston.

The average price for August transactions was $411,012 – up six per cent compared to the average of $387,921 reported in August 2009.

“Market conditions have remained tight enough to support higher home prices in comparison to last year. Under current mortgage lending standards, a household earning the average income in the GTA can comfortably afford the mortgage payments on an average priced home. Market conditions and the affordability picture would have to change dramatically before a sustained drop in the average selling price would take place,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Teranet  and the National Bank of Canada   joined together about one year ago to produce this House Price Index  of major centres across Canada. Please remember that it only reflects the large centres and is comprehensive for those living in those centres but would not reflect a vision of Canada as a whole. I get these newsletters monthly and you can subscribe to them at

Teranet’s data is from Land Registry systems across Canada so also reflects all transactions, not just those on MLS…

NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 25, 2010

Monthly price rise of 1.5% in June

Canadian home prices in June were up 13.6% from a year earlier, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index™. The 12-month gain, identical to that of May, was strongly influenced by Vancouver, up 16.3%, and Toronto, up 16.2%. In the other four markets surveyed, the 12-month rise ranged from 7.1% in Halifax to 12.0% in Ottawa. In Calgary it was 8.3% and in Montreal 8.7%.

June was the third consecutive month in which prices were up from the month before in all six metropolitan areas surveyed. The monthly rise of the composite index, 1.5%, was the largest since last August. The monthly rise was 2.7% in Ottawa, 2.4% in Toronto, 1.4% in Montreal, 1.3% in Halifax, 0.8% in Vancouver and 0.2% in Calgary. For the composite index it was the 14th straight monthly increase, the longest such run since October 2006.

Since the resale market has been slackening across Canada – from April to July of this year, more existing homes came on the market than were sold – it is too early to conclude that the relatively vigorous prices rises of April, May and June launched a trend. The prospect of harmonized sales taxes coming into effect July 1 in Ontario and B.C. may have stimulated sales in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa in the preceding months.

However, I have a tendency to look at the year as a whole, and put it in context with not just one year but the three or four past years. So here are the Housing Market Charts for the past fews years comparing 10 different factors. Don’t get caught up in the Media Hype one way or the other…get the full picture before you make your decisions.

Know that there are two major factors that I feel will really have a chilling effect on the market in Toronto. One being a decrease in the immigration to the City and the other being a major increase in the Mortgage Interest rates, however, expect a lot of activity as they move up as consumers will rush to get the lower rates first.

These charts are my Real Estate Bible and I will post them here monthly. Here is July’s which were released August 5th…Remember that you are not able to live in Stocks and Bonds and the Real Estate market is often more motivated by the need to move into new School Districts, closer to work, or upsizing/downsizing, or taxes than it is the vaugeries of pricing.

I would have lots of friends close by to hang with and when I get tired of smelling their butts, I would have some children to play ball with…. My owners would be able to take me to the Off-leash Park  at the bottom of the hill at the end of Carlton Street (Riverdale Park ). Not many places where a good dog like me can be off-leash in the City…Hopefully my owners would bring two balls to play with, one after the other (no way I’m bringing back one ball till they throw the next)…well, unless there are treats involved of course…Ice Cream being my favourite…Let me tell you, it is important to know how to train your owners from day one!

When I really get hot, instead of doing my “Victory Lap ” with the ball in my teeth to show who is the “best pup ever”, I could just plunk myself down in one of the dark brown mud puddles…Hey, it is their idea to get me washed and groomed….I am quite happy with my own ministrations…and my smells.

Parliament Street  has got a few good places where a mutt could get a drink, the Sweet Creamery  offers water (Ice cream would be a bigger hit) and of course, Starbucks can always be counted on for a sniff, squirt and a slurp. 

When my owners get stressed, I would get them to drop me at UrbanDog , the Doggie Day Care. I get to hang out with friends, humans, all the treats I can beg, monthly Birthday Parties (if I agree to wear those pointed party hats I get to eat Birthday Cake) and every few months I would have to endure a bath and a cut…

The only problems are that in May and September the Cabbagetown humans have these events called, Forsythia Festival  and the Cabbagetown Festival ….for the Forsythia Festival I have to wear a yellow ribbon and at the Cabbagetown Festival there is so much going on that my sniffer is constantly confused and my owners don’t let me out on the Streets to help with the clean up. I would happily be a Volunteer Clean Up Dog….even if it means my owners may have to put me in diapers for a couple of days after…

Anyway, my next life looks pretty impressive…and the best part of it is…that I will be a good Cabbagetown Dawg!

Sunday, September 19 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm. This is one of the signature events in the Cabbagetown season and a great place to get new ideas for your upcoming bathrooms and kitchens.  Tour this great Neighborhood!

Experience stylish living in lavishly designed and updated private Victorian homes on this self-guided tour through the Heritage Conservation District of Cabbagetown. The 2010 Tour features seven unique interiors, ranging from the splendor of an authentically restored and decorated Victorian mansion to the strict and sophisticated minimalism of an architect’s assertive renovation. Begin at any home on the tour and enjoy the gardens along the shaded sidewalks. Take a break at the local restaurants offering special deals to ticket holders. 

Tickets cost $30.00 and are available at:

Mi Casa, 238 Carlton Street, 416-929-1913 

KENDALL & CO, Décor & Design, 438 Parliament Street, Toronto 416-363-9914 

Jamestown Steak & Chops, 516 Parliament St. 416-925-7665 

Sheridan Nurseries– Yonge Street North location only – 2827 Yonge St. 416-481-6429 

Lady Bug Florist, 513 Church St. 416-922-9971 

Cabbagetown BIA, 237 Carlton St. 416-921-0857 

Or online using PayPal at www.cabbagetownpa.ca

A week later we had five offers that we were reviewing, almost all of which were conditional on Status Certificate Approval.

I called the Management Office direct for an update and I was told: that the cost for a Status Certificate had been increased to $130 plus HST and that only a certified cheque or Bank draft was acceptable.

I insisted that the Condominium Act  mandated Status Certificates at $100 and that no taxes were applicable and was chastised for my being difficult and was almost hung up on. I suggested that someone at their Head Office be called, as this is one of, if not the largest Condominium Property Management in Toronto, Del Property Management and that their information should be corrected otherwise they would be contravening the Condominium Act . A call back a few minutes later was very conciliatory…yes, I was correct that the amount was $100 and yes their were no taxes to be paid, neither GST, PST or HST…

When I offered to show up at their office with $100 cash I was told that was still not acceptable. Somehow cash is no longer legal tender? When I asked why, I was told that “cash provided too many opportunities”.  I suggested that this was a staff  issue and not an issue that a third party should have to make accommodations for and maybe a staff review would have been more appropriate. I do “righteous indignation” very well when provoked. Mea Culpa…

After 1/2 hour standing in line at a local bank and another 1/2 hour re-filling out the forms for the Status Certificate, I had to wait another four days for delivery. Then it was couriered to the Buyer’s lawyer in Oakville, Ontario for approval…and another 3 day wait.

There has to be a better way and I think I may have found it:

Conduit  allows Realtors, Lawyers, Owners, Mortgage Companies to order Status Certificates online and have them delivered to the purchasing party in a .pdf format. The Status Certificate still costs $100 as per the Condominium Act but there is a $25.00 convenience fee and HST of $3.25 on the convenience fee…a total of $128.25….and you can pay online with a credit card (no visits to a Bank to pick up a Certified funds, no couriers, no time doing pick up or delivery). This .pdf format can be emailed to a number of parties rather than only having one copy that really should be studied by a number of involved parties withing the approval period.

This is a great idea and costs nothing for the Management Company to sign up.

Check out the site, order a Status Certificate or two and let us know how it works or…if you have already tried out this service, we’d all like to have your thoughts below. Please let us know!

“The level of July sales remained below the expected long-term trend. The market has become more balanced following record monthly sales through most of the winter and early spring,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Bill Johnston. Total sales through the first seven months of 2010 were up by 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2009.

Notwithstanding the fact that price trends vary at the neighbourhood level in GTA, the average price for July transactions was $420,482, representing a six per cent increase over July 2009. Over the first seven months of 2010, the average selling price was up 12 per cent annually to $432,253.

“Market conditions promoting annual growth in the average selling price have remained in place. While July sales were down compared to last year, the number of new listings in the marketplace also fell. This means there was enough competition between buyers to exert upward pressure on price,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.