| Recent Blog Posts by Robert Atkinson | ||
Why Dragons Aren’t Monkeys2012, The Year of the Dragon in Chinese astrology, has been compared to 1992, The Year of the Monkey, and the year when the Toronto condominium market, having famously and disastrously crashed under the combined weight of unrealistic and unreasonable speculative expectation and increasing interest rates, was declared dead by many pundits. The two, like Dragons and Monkeys, could not be more unlike. ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on May 7, 2012
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Home prices continue their ascentThe most common question I hear in real estate is "When will prices drop?" Apparently not for anytime soon as evidenced by a report from Stats Canada stating that home prices continued their climb in August.
Fuelled by a healthy demand, sound underlying economic fundamentals, as well as a continuing low interest rate environment that contributes to supporting affordability, August marked ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on October 14, 2011
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Sellers Market Confirmed!Well, with 15% fewer listings this May compared to last May, and mortgage rates still at record lows the Toronto Real Estate market continues to perform well, favoring sellers over buyers. Sales were up 6% over last May. “Positive economic news and low borrowing costs led to strong sales through the first five months of the year, including the increase in May,” said Toronto Real Estate ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on June 13, 2011
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Sellers market?Toronto Real Estate Board states “The number of listings has been below expectations so far this year. Increased competition between home buyers has led to an accelerating annual rate of price growth,” which has pushed home prices up to a 9% increase over last April, setting the average home price to $477,407. There is an expectation that this new spike in prices will encourage ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on May 7, 2011
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Spring MarketIt never stops to amaze me how active the spring market can be. There seems to be a shortage of good homes for sale and as a result home buyers are actively seeking out these homes and are prepared to pay to get them. What seems to be different this year from prior years is that buyers are actually passing over lesser homes and holding out for the ones that are well staged, clean and show ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on March 21, 2011
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Mortgage Rules Change, What Does It Mean? Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced three new changes to financing rules. Effective March 18, 2011, it will become harder to buy a new home or consolidate debt into your mortgage. What are the changes?
The maximum amortization period has been reduced from 35 years to 30 years for mortgages that are insured by CMHC where the homeowner has less than 20% equity ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on January 18, 2011
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Are you concerned about a 'bubble' in home prices? 2010 was the Third Best Year for Existing Home SalesGreater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,395 existing home sales for the month of December, bringing the 2010 total to 86,170 – down by one per cent compared to 2009.
“Market conditions were anything but uniform in 2010. We went from supercharged sales activity during the first four months of the year, to a marked drop-off in transactions in the summer and then in the fall saw sales climb ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on January 14, 2011
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How was November for Real Estate?Sales were strong in November with 6,510 existing home sales, down 13% from 7,446 sales in November last year. New listings were also down 13%. In a nutshell, people are still buying and selling homes, prices are steady with prices generally increasing however slightly. The GTA continues to be a popular place to live!
On a month-over-month basis, the seasonally adjusted annual rate ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on December 16, 2010
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Pricing Your Home - Being overpriced is a bad startIf you're selling your house, one of the first steps you'll take is setting an asking price, a task that requires the ability to find the perfect balance between attracting solid offers and ultimately receiving top dollar.
If you're working with a Realtor, you'll probably hear talk of fair market value, which typically means the highest value an educated buyer will pay. Fair market value is usually ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on October 24, 2010
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Is the market hot, cold or what!Last year no one wanted to talk about the market as the focus was on jobs and economy. For those who were looking for a bargain 2009 was the year to sell and buy or just buy. This year, many of the folks who bought last year in the dip sold this year and made a very nice profit, very nice indeed!
This year started off with a bang as many buyers flocked to the market looking for home, ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on June 10, 2010
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Boom? Bust? Where's the market going?Economists are predicting the current activity in housing to slow down. This means home prices will stabilize as the demand begings to balance with the availability.
See this attached story from the Toronto Sun.
Last year’s comeback for Canada’s housing market will carry through early 2010 but subdued activity is on the horizon as higher prices and interest rates make property ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on March 26, 2010
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Are prices expected to climb or decline?Everyone is interested in real estate, even if they're not buying or selling. Lately one of the most common questions I get is "Is the market still slow?" I find this really interesting as the market is really quite strong right now!
Most homes are selling within a week and often with multiple offers. There are a number of factors at play as to why this is happening and it's best ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on January 2, 2010
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Strong Sales Continue In AugustIn August 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 8,035 sales, up 27% per cent from August 2008. The average price for August transactions was $387,921 – up by six per cent compared to the same month last year.
"The increase in demand for existing homes has been widespread across different housing types and price ranges," said TREB President Tom Lebour. "This suggests many categories ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on September 10, 2009
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GOVERNMENT REBATE$!!!Anyone thinking of doing upgrades to thier home be sure to check out the link below. Here you can find out what upgrades will get you a rebate and which ones won't.
Not only will you feel good about helping the environment you will also be helping your pocket book by reducing your monthly bills and increasing your homes value in the market place.
Call me to find out what your home is worth ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on June 20, 2009
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Why do some agents have so many listings and others have almost none...are they not active?There are as many types of people selling real estate as their are buying. In fact, some agents will focus solely on helping BUYERS find homes and not take on listings. Other agents will focus almost exclusively on taking listings and hand off any buyers that might come along to other agents.
One might wonder why would agents not do both? Why only take listings or only take buyers? ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on March 28, 2009
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Declining market - How to come out aheadEveryone was really excited these past 5 to 7 years as prices were appreciating and getting your home sold was often an experience of multiple offers and short listing periods. It was a sellers market and as a result everyone was selling to realize their gains, great news if you are selling to downsize or to get out of the market. If your home was over priced the market would eventually ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on January 16, 2009
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How are home prices affected by the economy?
Understanding today's real estate market and how the market impacts the home selling process can be confusing. This report is designed help you make the right decisions for your family by helping you understand the market and its impact on the selling process.
The real estate market is a simple function of supply and demand.
In real estate, supply is the total number of homes ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on November 10, 2008
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A Buyers Market is a trading up opportunity??Consider this; you have a home that is currently worth $400,000 and you want to move up to a home that is worth $600,000. You would need $200,000 of extra funds to make this move.
Now, the market begins to move to a buyers market and prices slide 5%, let's re-evaluate our scenario above.
Our $400,000 home now sells for only $380,000 (5% less) and the $600,000 home now sells for $570,000. ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on October 3, 2008
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I want to wait until the spring to sell my home....Seems every where we turn there is news from the US of failed banks and economic uncertainty. Many people are 'wanting' to move to a home that is better suited to them but that if they wait until the spring they will be able to get a better price for their home. Now, I'm not a psychic or able to see the future but I do have good common sense and the market indicators are pretty clear.... ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on October 3, 2008
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How to price to sell and still make a profitThe asking price you set for your home has a significant determining if you will make a profit, how much profit you will make and how long it will take to get your profit. Your real estate agent's knowledge of the overall market and what's selling - or not selling - will be invaluable in helping you determine the price. The objective is to find a price that the market will bear but won't leave ...
Posted by Robert Atkinson
on August 11, 2008
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