REAL ESTATE BLOG

A TIME FOR REMEMBRANCE ... November is a month of reflection and appreciation, with Remembrance Day occupying the very essence of that for all of humanity. We, as fortunate Canadians, live in the greatest country on Earth, enjoying a standard and mode of living that so easily could have been lost if not for the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers who have died fighting to protect it. To honour them, to pay homage to their gift, we all stop for a precious minute of silence on November...

MARKET UPDATE: Well… the market is never boring, let’s just start there. Time and again, our Canadian real estate market likes to remind us that it is a fully functioning, capitalistic, free market ecosystem – in constant flux, subject, of course, to various economic factors and marginally controlled by our democratic system of government, but overall, a force of its own, based almost exclusively on the whims and demands of consumers. Just like the stock market, real...

KEEPING AN EYE ON APRIL  A slower start to the real estate market in the Durham Region this year has largely been a result of lack of participation among sellers. Surprisingly, buyers are in the game, but Sellers have yet to enter the field in the numbers required to meet demand. Quite frankly, our inventory levels have suffered since before the beginning of the New Year and have yet to replenish themselves. As such, we are seeing multiple offers again, the holding back of offer...

Big mortgages, few listings and fierce competition: Welcome to the spring housing market of 2023 Competition is heating up across the country, in cities such as Chilliwack, B.C., and London, Ont., and in major urban centres such as Calgary and Toronto, as Canada’s housing market comes back to life with the approach of spring RAHELLE YOUNGLAIREAL ESTATE REPORTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED MARCH 17, 2023 Jasmine Lorimer bought a condo in Whistler, B.C., in December,...

THE MARKET MARCHES ON ... It was about this time last year that we saw the first subtle fissures in the dramatically overheated real estate market occur; in fact, we can pinpoint it to right around Family Day of February 2022. Nothing was the same after that long weekend, with the tiny cracks widening week over week into obvious gaps in activity across the board. The unfettered upward trajectory of the maniacally strong Canadian housing market had finally reached its zenith, ending a 22...

Media Release Durham Region Association of REALTORS® DURHAM REGION, February 3, 2023 – Durham Region Association of REALTORS® (DRAR) President Meredith Kennedy reported 394 residential transactions in January. The number of new listings in Durham Region increased from December by 88 per cent, with 863 new listings reported last month. The average price in Durham Region was $886,849 in January representing a slight increase compared to December. The average...

The Bank of Canada raised its key overnight lending rate for the eighth straight time Wednesday morning, but signalled its rate-hiking campaign could finally be over. The move was widely expected by economists as the bank tries to wrestle record-high inflation into submission. It's the eighth time in less than a year that the bank has hiked its trendsetting rate — a move that will make borrowing money more expensive. But at one quarter of a percentage point,...

A LOOK BACK IN 2022 AND AHEAD IN 2023:  Provided by Richard Robins International Interest rate hikes have undeniably eased a few scorching hot Canadian seller’s markets (which was needed). Unfortunately, though, we’ve also seen record declines in total sales month-over-month and, in some cases, close to the lowest posted sales numbers in 6 years.  Since January 2022, the Bank of Canada policy rate experienced 7 different rate hikes, taking us from 0.25 in...

  We get asked this question everywhere we go, especially at this time of year, as a new year is about to unfold before us. We love having the conversation. Educating homeowners and homebuyers on what is really happening, devoid of the hype written in almost every news outlet, is a privilege to us. Here’s our position for the coming housing market year in our area…   For 2023, we are anticipating a market in correction for the first half of the year,...

' Tis The Season... It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again, when holiday joy fills the heart! This year, more than ever, the whole world needs a little more hope, a little more grace, and a little more peace...it is our greatest wish that this Christmas, your lives will be blessed with happiness, health and everything that is good and positive, beautiful and kind. At our brokerage, the holiday spirit is alive and well. We kicked off the season with our annual...

THE MARKET IS STILL STRONG IN DURHAM REGION… FOR THE MEANTIME! Many of our average selling price categories look very similar to those of last month; with some even rising, like that of the condo apartment. While our market continues to adjust to higher borrowing costs and squeezes out a significant number of potential players from our buyer pool, the real estate market in our area continues to weather the storm quite well. How is that possible, you may ask? Well, the September...

In this edition of tempo, you will notice that we saw an uptick in the market for the month of August here in the Durham Region. The volume of sales increased, while our new listing inventory was lower than in July. The average price rose slightly in every category of detached, freehold homes, with beautiful, well-presented, properly priced properties experiencing multiple offer scenarios, many with competing offers counting into the teens. Houses took longer to sell but ultimately sold for...

  While this month’s edition may read a little “doom and gloom”, bear in mind that the summer market is always slower than the rest of the year, and our statistical analysis is reflective of what happened for the month of July -- a notoriously quieter month on the resale calendar. That, coupled with rising interest rates, out of control inflation and a new tentativeness in the buyer psyche, equals a very changed landscape in the world of real estate. Once the kids...