We will be doing our Mid Year Real Estate Market Update this Thursday, July 26th at 6:30 p.m.

Topics include:

•  - What’s happening now in the GTA Real Estate Market
• - Recent changes in mortgage lending and CMHC havoc
•  -  What buyers need to know when buying their 1st home or moving up
•  -  Investing into Real Estate
•  - and much more.

Pleaese use the link below to register. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in the next year and want to get educated as to what the market is doing, you need to attend this important seminar. Anyone who comes as a guest and mentions our name, Durham Real Estate Centre Team, receives a FREE copy of our book “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Real Estate, But Were Afraid To Ask.”

Knowledge is Power

Register Here:

http://www.recrainmaker.com/RecTeamGuestCoursePage.php

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At The Durham Real Estate Centre Team we are PROUD to be members of The Real Estate Centre Team in Toronto; representing their brand throughout the entire Durham Region. Under the leadership of Simon Giannini and an impressive management team, we have sold 197 homes worth 72,026,750.00 through the end of Q2, 2012. We couldn’t have done it without you! THANK YOU!

We’re not done yet! We have room for a few, select individuals to be added to this team. If you, or someone you know is interested in taking their career to another level, please get in touch!

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This first chart illustrates how much of the average family’s income goes to housing costs including mortage, interest, taxes and utilities based on the assumptions listed on the chart. It’s interesting to see how we stack up today compared to the past 25 years.

This second chart show the average monthly resale price for the current year and past 3 years. It’s useful for looking at the seasonal trends.

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Toronto, July, 2012 – Greater Toronto Realtors reported 9,422 home sales through the Toronto MLS system in June 2012. The number of transactions was down by 5.4%  in comparison to June 2011. The year-over-year decline was largest in the City of Toronto, where sales were down by 13% to June 2011. Sales in the rest of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) market area were comparable to a year ago.

“Buyers continue to face the substantial upfront cost associated with the City of Toronto’s unfair Land Transfer Tax,” said TREB President Ann Hannah. “Recent polling by TREB suggests that many households are considering home purchases outside of the City of Toronto to avoid paying the Land Transfer Tax. This goes a long way in explaining the disproportionate decline in sales in the City versus surrounding regions.”

The average selling price in June was $508,622 – up by 7.3 per cent compared to June 2011. The mortgage payment associated with the average priced home in June, assuming five per cent down and a five-year fixed rate mortgage amortized over 25 years, would account for approximately 35 per cent of the average household’s income in the GTA after adding property tax and utility payments.

“According to new mortgage lending guidelines set out by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, the GTA housing market remains affordable. The share of the average household’s income going toward major home ownership payments for the average priced home remains below the 39 per cent ceiling recently announced by Mr. Flaherty,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

“The average household in the GTA continues to benefit from a considerable amount of flexibility to account for higher interest rates moving forward,” continued Mercer.

What’s it mean?

It means prices still defy gravity, but probably for not much longer. Markets always cool off in July and August, just like the average Canadian. Add to that cooling is a little ice thrown on by the Federal Government with their tightening of the mortgage requirements.  While it demands a little more due diligence on the part of buyers, it also allows them to catch up to prices and still take advantage of low interest rates.

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