kinramnaiji: Toronto Real Estate Market Watch | Realty Queen TO

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The Toronto real estate market is off to a great start for 2013 as was evident with the January numbers. Now we are 2 1/2 months in and it further confirms how strong the real estate market is doing. Let?s take a look at my Toronto market watch to see what happened during the first 14 days of March:

?3,594 sales reported through the MLS, a 11.5% decline when compared to March 2012
Average sale price in the GTA was?..$532,102, up by almost 6% when compared to the same time last year
Average price in the 416 area was??$586,655, up by 5.7% when compared to March 2012
Average price of condos in Toronto was up by 1.9% over last year
Listings were also down in the 416 area when compared to the same time last year by 4.5%

So what does this all mean about our beloved Toronto real estate market? It means we have a tight market out there with low supply and tons of buyers.There is not enough low rise homes to supply the demand of?families?looking for more space and not enough sellers wanting to sell, which might in part ?have something to do with the Toronto Land Transfer Tax. If our government wants to ?cool? the housing market, don?t make anymore mortgage changes, get rid of the Toronto Land Transfer Tax which is just a money grab from the city. Don?t get these numbers twisted into thinking real estate is declining like the media would like you to believe. They love reporting that sales are down by dramatic numbers, but fail to report that prices are rising month after month, but I guess that wouldn?t generate frenzy and traffic to their respective websites.

If sales are down but prices are up, that can only mean 1 thing?.too many buyers and not enough listings, economics 101, supply vs demand

But once again, that?s not a newsworthy story! What is newsworthy though are Realtors underpricing homes in Toronto and creating crazy bidding wars that are being picked up by Toronto papers. One such recent example was a home listed in Wallace-Emerson, NOT the?Junction?Triangle?as was reported by the Star that received 40 offers and sold almost $200,000 over asking price. First off, if that Realtor knew anything about the neighbourhood or at least did a comparable search, he would have seen this home should have not been listed at $419,000, more like $570,000-$590,000. The realtor claimed that his clients advised him to list it so low because it was in shambles and they were afraid buyers would be turned off. Well, as a Realtor, we get hired by our clients to be real estate consultants. Had this Realtor educated his sellers that Wallace-Emerson is an up and coming area with little to no listings available and buyers looking for fixer uppers in this area, he would have had no problem explaining why this house should have been listed at a more realistic price and that the showings would still be abundant. But in this case?scenario The Star wouldn?t have been able report that we are in a housing bubble waiting to burst and the Realtor wouldn?t have gotten his 15 minutes of fame.

We are NOT in a housing bubble, realistic prices are being paid for homes in Toronto, where people are not only buying homes, but also buying into neighbourhoods and lifestyles and that costs money, especially in Toronto. It?s like paying for good seats (real estate) at a concert, the closer you want to be to the stage to have a better view and be right in the action, the more you will have to pay. Same goes for real estate, the closer you want to be to downtown and?amenities?such as the subway, bars, restaurants, grocery stores, etc, the more you will have to pay for that ?seat?.

If Realtors keep underpricing properties then of course it will seem like we are in some crazy bubble with buyers paying 120% over asking price. So what I ask of my dear Realtor friends is do your research, educate your sellers and price accordingly please, don?t give us and our market a bad wrap that it doesn?t deserve. And I ask all the buyers don?t get caught up in the media frenzy and instead look at the cold, hard, facts?.the numbers. The numbers tell us, we have a healthy, but tight market, spring has definitely sprung in the Toronto real estate market regardless if our weather agrees or not.

If you?re a seller and still not convinced why you should sell your home, then click on Why Sell Your Toronto Home Now?and buyers have you been battling it out for homes and not coming out?victorious, then click on How To Win A Bidding War In Toronto

Whether you?re a buyer or seller, I?m always willing to help, just drop me a line below!