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How Does Title Insurance Protect You

The word “title” is a legal term that means you have legal ownership of property. You obtain title to property when the owner signs the deed (transfer document) over to you. Title is then registered in the government’s land registration system.   Title insurance is an insurance policy that protects residential or commercial property owners and their lenders against losses related to the property’s title or ownership.   Normally, when you purchase a home, your lawyer would investigate title to see if there are any liens against the property.  Your lawyer’s opinion however, is only going to be as good as his/her research.  So, if your lawyer ma...Read More

It's all UP from here...

Toronto real estate's market decline is officially over (at least in my opinion). We've now seen several months of slow but steady increases in the average sale price as a market with a diminished listing inventory reacts with multiple offer situations and a low days-on-market number. Drawing on my 40+ years of Toronto real estate experience, I think we can expect the coming months to continue this drawn-out price gain as mortgage rates stabilize and then start to recede. Every buyer would like to time the market perfectly. Well, maybe this is the signal that should current mortgage rates allow, they should prepare to step into the purchasing process sooner rather than later to buy...Read More

Average sale price increases month over month

I remember back in the fall of 2008, when the US real estate market and banks were falling fast, everyone thought that we in Canada would follow the same path.  And that certainly was true for our real estate values for the four to six months immediately following that September crash. However, it didn't last.  Our Toronto market started to gain strength by February/March 2009 and stayed strong (sometimes too strong) right up until 2022 when interest rates started to jump. Based on average sale prices over the last several months, the decline in price has either slowed dramatically or has started to turn upward.  Witness the average sale price for March 2023 at $1,108,60...Read More

February Sees Some Stabilization In The Toronto Market

The big headline in many publications is the statistic showing a decline of 17.9% in the average sale price ($1,095,617) between February 2023 and the same month in 2022. Although accurate there are some extenuating circumstances. For one, February 2023 had sales of houses over $2 million down by 72% (288 vs 1017 last year). The loss of that many sales this year certainly influences what the monthly average would turn out to be. As it turns out, the February 2023 average sales price is the highest it's been for our Toronto regional market since last June. February sales numbers (4,783) also seemed to stabilize in the +/- 5000 range... similar to what we've seen since July of last...Read More

2022 Had Some Surprises & Some Disappointments

Market Summary for Year-End 2022 The Toronto Real Estate Board market in 2022 saw 75,140 total sales, the lowest annual sales number since 2008. Despite this, the average sale price for the year was $1,189,750, the highest ever in TRREB’s history. However, the average sale price in December was $1,051,000, which was approximately $140,000 below the annual average. The sales of Toronto-only detached and semi-detached houses were lower by 33% compared to 2021, and the sales of condo apartments were down by 37%. Amazingly, the year-end 2022 average sale prices for both Toronto-only detached and semi-detached houses were virtually flat (+1% to +3%) compared to 2021. Additi...Read More

Avoid Anxiety When Applying For A FULL Mortgage Pre-Approval

A pre-approval VS a full mortgage pre-approval… they sound the same but they’re very different.   Every realtor has had a client who thinks they have been pre-approved only to find out they cannot qualify for the homes they have been looking at.  Often this does not become clear until the buyer has wasted way too much of their time looking at properties they have no chance of qualifying for.   And often clients get a pre-approval certificate from a bank that has a long list of conditions attached.    What many banks do when qualifying a buyer for a mortgage is to just ask a few basic questions such as, “What is your annual income?”, and, &ld...Read More

Successful Ways To Avoid Dreadful Scarcity Thinking

This is a BIG one… getting rid of the accumulation of years of stuff!  Sometimes it is piles of books, newspapers and other paraphernalia that have built stacks and other times it is extra furniture or kids toys that have grown in numbers. Either way, the goal is to slim down, dispose of LOTS of stuff and put items into storage that you will want in your new home.   By creating more ‘space’ you’ll be making your condo suite seem larger than it might be and larger sells.  You will also have eliminated a lot of your personal things making it more attractive to the buyer. Many folks find it easier to begin with clearing out their condo locker, an area ...Read More

Toronto's Average Sale Price Is 'Bouncing Along The Bottom'

Hi, I’m Thomas Cook from Toronto's Real Estate Team at RE/MAX and here is our November 2022 Toronto real estate market report.   The November average sale price continued the trend we’ve seen for the last five months.   Let’s review some of the Toronto Real Estate Board statistics and see what’s happened.   The last time November sales numbers came in this low (4,544 sales of houses and condos across the GTA), towards the end of the fall market was all the way back in 2008, 14 years ago, when we got hit with that big recession and US bank meltdown.  This was 49.5% below November sales in 2021.   Condo townhouse and high-rise suite sales mi...Read More

Toronto's Sales Numbers Lowest In 22 Years

Hi, I’m Thomas Cook from Toronto's Real Estate Team at RE/MAX and here is our October 2022 Toronto real estate market report.   The most dramatic statistic for October is the big drop in downtown condo sales.   Let’s review some of the Toronto Real Estate Board statistics and see what’s happened.   The last time October sales numbers came in this low (4,961 sales of houses and condos across the GTA), in the middle of the fall market was all the way back in 2000, 22 years ago.  This was 49% below October sales in 2021.   Condo townhouse and high-rise suite sales mirrored that of the overall market and were lower by almost 57-60%.  Overall, 1...Read More

Toronto's Average Sale Price Up Fractionally Over Summer Months

Hi, I’m Thomas Cook from Toronto's Real Estate Team at RE/MAX and here is our September 2022 Toronto real estate market report.   For the first time this year, the average sale price year-over-year slipped into negative territory.   Let’s review some of the Toronto Real Estate Board statistics and see what’s happened.   The last time September sales numbers came in this low (5,038 sales of houses and condos across the GTA), at the start of the fall market was all the way back in 2001, 21 years ago.  This was 44% below September sales in 2021.   Condo townhouse and high-rise suite sales mirrored that of the overall market and were lower by almost...Read More