admin May 11th, 2009
Spring has sprung and the flowers and blooms are beginning to make their entrance into the city’s landscape. Their colours, and the positive moods that those colours affect give a great lesson in how some simple colour changes in the home can greatly enhance people’s perception of it. Style at Home has published some great ideas on how to simply enhance the colours in your house.
admin July 30th, 2008
Recently there has been a lot of press again regarding the real estate market in the United States and the declining prices. The topic of frequent discussions is how this is affecting our market here in Toronto. With some of the sensational press, it is often not mentioned that in the U.S., high demand markets like Manhattan, Boston and downtown Chicago have not been affected nearly as much as some other U.S. markets. These markets are probably more comparable to Toronto’s downtown market in terms of desirability and demand. First of all, after 20 years in Real Estate, I can tell you that summertime is typically not the best time to assess how the market is doing since market activity always slows down in the summer months. Children are out of school, many people are away at their cottages or on vacation and are taking time to enjoy the warm weather socializing and enjoying family and friends. Once the fall arrives and things begin to get back to a more normal and regular schedule, we will get a better indication of where the market stands.
Our statistics are showing that we have seen a decline in activity this June which is down about 18% in the central core compared to June of 2007. Although activity is down, at the same time the average price is about 4% higher than it was at this time last year and condo prices have risen on an average of 9% in the central Toronto districts. Gradually we are seeing a shift to a more balanced market as we have more inventory on the market than we have seen for quite a while. We are also not seeing as many multiple offer situations as has been the case for the last few years. If there are multiple offers, the number of Buyers vying for the same property is not as high. For example you may have 1 or 2 offers instead of 5 or 6. Since there are more homes on the market, Buyers are enjoying more choice and more opportunity to take the time to choose a home. If you have been thinking of buying, this might be an opportune time to purchase that new home.
admin July 16th, 2008
We all know the reaction we have experienced when we drive by a home which is beautifully designed and manicured. This is referred to as curb appeal and it serves to illustrate how important first impressions can be when selling your home. A little extra effort and a little money spent on the exterior of your home can go a long way to increasing the value of your home and helping to sell it. Fraser Beach has created a wonderful website called Curb Appeals with helpful information about dramatically improving the exterior of your home to attract Buyers.