2012 - Jas Jagpal Toronto Real Estate Weekly Update. This update will feature GTA trends and statistics, news of the day, condo & mortgage updates and will answer any questions buyers and sellers e-mail to me. Below is a text-summary of the video.
<Summary of Video>
Hi Everyone, it's Jas Jagpal from RE/MAX. This year I want to do something different. I want to try to give you weekly market updates so this is week 1 and just in from TREB last year's numbers from December and wow did we have an amazing year.
In December 2011 compared to December 2010 there was 4718 new sales compared to 4286 in December 2010. The average price also increased to $451,436K in December compared to $433,523 in December 2010.
In addition we had a lot more listings compared to 2010. An increase of nearly 14%. What is this going to do? Hopefully help stabilize the market with the increased number of homes which will provide greater competition.
I also want to talk to you about the affordability factor. It has gone up a bit around 32% and is at the threshold where banks lend. If interest rates do go up higher by a percent or so it will make it difficult for those at the border of affordability to get their loans approved.
Everyone looking at the charts this year, compared to 2010, the average price has increased.
The statistics tell us that starting in May we had more sales in 2011 then that of last year. We also noticed prices have increased this year. This may mean that people are cashing out on the higher prices since there was also an increase in listings starting in July 2011 compared to July 2010.
The prime mortgage rate is still at 3%. Banks aren't giving discounted variable rates. Their encouraging fixed rate mortgages which are hovering around 3.25%. Some brokers can get your variable rates around prime - 0.15%. Some people might want to consider fixing their mortgage if they want the peace of mind knowing what their payment will be for the next 5 years. Fixed rates are at historical lows.
On the condo front, there are excellent opportunities, especially at Centro Condos and Solaris Condos. Centro is offering 1BR + D units around $250. Solaris you can get a smaller 2BR, 2WR unit for around $270. So if you are interested give me a call and let the local expert help you.
So for 2012, the market is very strong. A lot of new activities, people calling and buying. This is a good time to buy. There are more listings, better bargains... don't wait for the spring rush. Remember anytime the interest rates goes up 1% it will affect your purchasing power by 10%. So if something is worth 200K... it will be like buying it for $210K.
That is your weekly market update. Let me know what you thought. Please send me an email and if there are anything else you want to know, let me know so that I can answer them for next week.
Thank you very much and God Bless.
Jas Jagpal
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