Real Estate News

I recently wrote about the November housing sales numbers released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver that stated that Vancouver had experienced the third best November for housing sales on record.

Now the Toronto Real Estate Board has announced that this past month was the best November on record for the Toronto area.

With Toronto and Vancouver being the most expensive real estate markets in Canada this means that these numbers will raise the national sales averages, likely by double digits. Although, it should be mentioned that both cities saw sales figures that were down from the previous month.

While it's been frequently documented that the record low interest rates have contributed to the surge in home finance and home purchases, housing inventory levels in both Vancouver and Toronto continue to be low, thus heightening demand.

Even as sales figures comparing October and November show that the market may be slowing down, there is still a long way to go until the real estate market is dead.

I've heard of people waiting in lines for days to buy concert tickets or the newest video game. Let's not even discuss the madness that preceded the Star Wars prequels. But 70 dueling real estate agents waiting in line to snap up condos?

While low mortgage rates are keeping the real estate market hot in most of the country, the Toronto condo market must really be on fire if real estate agents need to queue for up to a week in November to get first crack at a new downtown luxury building.

Apparently things got heated between the agents in the various lines with "jabbing, shouts, threats and accusations of queue-jumping". In the end it had to be broken up by police and several of the agents who felt that they'd been wronged protested with signs that said, "unfair".

I say next time we settle it the Star Wars way - with a good old-fashioned light saber battle.

"The hottest submarket in the Greater Toronto Area offers some of the best prices." This paradox is explained in a recent Globe & Mail article.

Downtown West (the area between Lake Shore, Dufferin, Bloor and University) is the site of 15% of all condo developments in the GTA. With over 30 builders working on 51 projects as recently as July, the area is booming.

Now for the strange part. Although it ranks first in condo activity, the area is 6th for prices.

Why? Competition drives down prices. Knowing that housing is affordable and mortgage rates are low, young people are flocking to the area.

The upswing in residential development has been gradual, according to the article. It began with a change in zoning that allowed buildings formerly zoned as industrial to be used as commercial. From there, hip creative companies started moving in, and their employees began looking for housing nearby. The rest is, as they say, history.

Close to clubs, restaurants and unique shops, this area is destined to be popular for many years to come. Anyone looking to make an investment in Toronto real estate would do well to check out Downtown West.

During an appearance on CTV's Question Period on Sunday, Flaherty noted the differences in the financial systems in the two countries: "We have a solid banking system in Canada. Our banks are well capitalized. Our households are well capitalized... and our fiscal fundamentals are solid."

Flaherty's comments echo those made by the Prime Minister on Friday. Both reassured Canadians that the banking, insurance and mortgage lending sectors in this country are just fine. They also addressed concerns that Canadian taxpayers would be on the hook for any financial institutions that suffered losses because of the US crisis. Flaherty and Harper stated clearly that there would be no government bailout of financial institutions, period.

In a previous post we talked about the launch of Zoocasa, a new entry in the online real estate game and competitor for every new home buyer's favourite online destination - mls.ca.

Seems there is more to the story than we first realized. A recent post on blogTO offers more details/critiques about Zoocasa along with some unkind words about MLS. While we are not interested in taking sides, the post is worth reading for the facts it unearths.

For example, there is no information anywhere on Zoocasa to indicate who runs it. Intrepid blogger Tim did some digging and discovered that it is owned by Rogers Communications. While uncertain as to why it is so hush-hush, with that information in hand Tim was able to find and interview Jay Lewin who was hired by Rogers to work on Zoocasa. The resulting Q&A is part of the post, and from it we learn that Zoocasa is still in beta (testing mode) so its full functionality is not yet available. Planned enhancements include a feed for agents to copy listings from Zoocasa directly to the Facebook Marketplace. But the main goal is to provide a tool that goes beyond mere listings to describe important attributes of the neighbourhood surrounding each house for sale.

Perhaps anticipating competition, MLS is up for some major changes. In October the site will relaunch as realtor.ca and include more interactive mapping functions and improved searching.

Both sites will continue to have supporters and detractors. It's just good to know that as we shift into a buyers' market, there are more online options available to help with new home purchases.