December 30, 2007
Happy New Year
Greetings! Hope everybody had a merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Solstice, or whatever else you may celebrate.
As the New Year draws near, I want to thank everybody who is keeping watch on GTA Watch.
GTA Watch has been online for about a month and I am pleasantly surprised by the number of visits that it is receiving. The site is intended to be an online mag that objectively reports on the real estate scene in the Greater Toronto Area. And it seems to be working.
It’s a labour of love — but in order to continue doing this, we need your help. It would be so greatly appreciated if you would take the time to click on our ads and/or banners and patronize those that advertise with us.
Thanks for a great first month, and here’s to an unforgettable 2008!
December 28, 2007
Home sales break records
The Canadian Real Estate Association hasn’t even tabulated data from December, but Canadian home sales for the first 11 months of the year have already broken the full-year record reached in 2006.
According to CREA, 496,890 homes were sold in Canada by the end of November, a number that is already 2.7% higher for the full-year tally from 2006.
Year-over-year, seasonally adjusted November home sales rose 1.6% to 42,576 units for November, 2007. The average national price for a Canadian home rose 11.7% over the same period to $313,645.
“Resale housing activity next year will recede from this year’s breakneck pace as further price increases dent affordability,” said Gregory Klump, Crea’s chief economist.
Yet that’s not necessarily bad news, he added. CREA is expecting interest rates will continue to edge slightly lower while household incomes will continue to rise. So even if the total number of sales declines, Mr. Klump said CREA still expects 2008 to produce the second-highest level of sales on record.
Canada has having much more luck that the United States, where on Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that American home sales for November fell to the lowest level since April, 1995. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected sales of 720,000.
December 27, 2007
An agent … by any other name
The common usage of the term ‘real estate agent’ is, nine times out of ten, not technically correct.
The nice lady who leaves cards in your mailbox or talks to you about selling your home is not a real estate agent. According to the Real Estate Council of Ontario, which regulates real estate brokerage in the province, she is a salesperson or a broker.
Your “agent” is the brokerage firm that you hire to represent you — not a person.
So your mother-in-law is not really your agent — what a relief.
But then, a rose by any other name …