“The GTA resale market has not suffered from a lack of willing buyers this year. Buyers have been spurred on by the positive affordability picture brought about by low mortgage rates,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “The challenge has been a lack of inventory. Many listings have attracted multiple interested buyers. Strong competition has led to annual rates of price growth well above the long-term average.”

The average selling price in the GTA was $501,614 in March – up by 10 per cent in comparison to March 2011.
“The number of new listings was up last month in comparison to March 2011. However, based on the historic relationship between price and listings, the GTA resale market should be better supplied. If competition between buyers remains as strong as it is right now, we will almost certainly see an average selling price above $500,000 for 2012 as a whole,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Solid hardwood floor. Might outlast your house since it can go through several refinishing cycles. Installation needs underlayment, but it could be installed on existing subfloor. Hardwood provides an excellent design solution as it comes in many kinds of wood: oak, maple and ash.

Engineered floor. Provides all the benefits of hardwood, it can be refinished as well but is easier to install and does not require underlayment subfloor and can be installed on any surface. Engineered hardwood flooring is made of wood, but it’s not solid. Instead it is a laminated product like plywood, with a thin but tough veneer of real wood on top laminated to three to five layers of less expensive wood (or fiberboard) and bonded under pressure with strong glues.

Laminate. Is completely synthetic with a tough melamine wear coat over a paper or fiberboard core. The beauty of laminate flooring is that it can be made to look like any material; stone, ceramic tile, wood, and more – at a fraction of the cost of the real thing. The effect is achieved in the second layer, which contains a photographic representation of the real flooring material. It is easy to install and water resistant.

Bamboo plank floor. Is an environmentally friendly material. Not only is bamboo a fast-growing and renewable crop, the companies that make bamboo flooring use binders with low emissions. Bamboo flooring is made by shredding stalks of the raw material, then pressing them together with a resin that holds the shreds in their finished shape.

By producing a certificate, which indicates your home has an alarm system actively monitored by a security company, you should be able to achieve significant savings on the premium. For many homeowners this translates into a discount of about 15 per cent. An added bonus is the peace of mind you get from knowing that your house is well protected. Similarly, other security features that reduce the likelihood of a claim, such as deadbolt locks, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, can lower the cost of home insurance as well.

New homes, and those with updated electrical, heating and plumbing systems are also more likely to be regarded favourably by insurers, due to the reduced risk of an expensive malfunction.

Location is another factor in determining the cost of a premium. If the home is located in a neighbourhood with fewer criminal incidents or near a fire station or water supply in rural areas, savings can be achieved.

Even attesting to the fact that all occupants are non-smokers could result in a reduced premium. A track record of responsible behavior, as demonstrated through a claims-free history and a strong credit rating may also be rewarded.

Increasing the deductible, or the amount the homeowner is responsible for paying in the event of claim is another strategy for lowering a home insurance premium. Similarly, the amount of insurance for personal property can be adjusted, but it’s important to have ample coverage for high-ticket items like jewellery and computers.

Like any other major expense, it pays to shop around for the best insurance quote. While shopping around, homeowners should bear in mind that their coverage should relate to the worth of the structure, not the land value, as it will remain intact regardless of any catastrophe that befalls the dwelling. A professional appraiser can offer a clear estimate in this regard.

It is wise to only switch insurance providers during the policy’s renewal period in order to avoid any penalties, and to consider choosing the same insurer for home, life, and auto coverage, as doing so can result in multi-line discounts of up to 15 per cent.

“With slightly more than two months of inventory in the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) market area, on average, it is not surprising that competition between buyers has exerted very strong upward pressure on the average selling price. Price growth will continue to be very strong until the market becomes better supplied,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “It is important to note that both buyers and sellers are aware of current market conditions. This is evidenced by the fact that homes sold, on average, for 99 per cent of the asking price in February,” continued Silver.

The average selling price in the TREB market area was $502,508 in February – up 11 per cent compared to February 2011. The Composite MLS® Home Price Index for TREB, which provides a less volatile measure of price growth compared to the average price, was up by 7.3 per cent compared February 2011. “If tight market conditions continue to result in higher than expected price growth as we move into the spring, expectations for 2012 as a whole will have to be revised upwards,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “While price growth remains strong, the average selling price remains affordable from a mortgage lending perspective for a household earning the average income in the GTA.”

A lot of people in Toronto would like to see the PATH system extended. Therefore the city has drafted a plan which gives an idea of how PATH will potentially develop in the next 25-30 years.
In the light of condo ownership it’s great to be in a building with a PATH connection as it brings convenience, especially in winter. Added convenience can translate into more demand for a building with a connection, which in turn can have a positive effect on your investment.

The map below gives an insight into where possible extensions will be. The orange dotted lines are the high priority extensions. These will be build in the near future. The orange and yellow markers are lower priority options.

Some interesting high priority ones for condos are connections to The Esplanade and St Lawrence Market Area. South of Union Station towards Queens Quay. West of Maple Leaf Square (55 & 65 Bremner) towards Lower Simcoe. West of Union Station towards Rogers Centre.

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The LCBO warehouse along Queen’s Quay in Toronto is in a prime downtown location. It was built in 1954 and Duncan says selling the property and redeveloping the head office, warehouse and retail store will raise $200 million for the province. A retail store will remain part of any redevelopment says Duncan. The head office will move to a different location.

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“A favourable affordability picture bolstered by very low posted fixed mortgage rates has kept home buyers confident in their ability to achieve the Canadian goal of home ownership,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “The buyer pool remains diverse in the GTA with strong interest in home types across the pricing spectrum,” continued Silver.

The average selling price for January 2012 transactions was $463,534 – up by almost nine per cent compared to January 2011.

“Low inventory levels have kept competition between buyers strong, resulting in robust annual rates of price growth over the last year. Strong price growth is expected to attract more listings. A better supplied market should result in a slower rate of price growth, especially in the second half of 2012,” said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

Mortgage rates at historic lows: They can’t get any lower. Four to five-year fixed mortgages at 3 per cent are unheard of. It is lower than the variable rate that most Canadians have been paying for years. Rates have nowhere to go but up, either later this year or next. If you are paying a variable interest rate, lock in now.

Canada’s appeal: This country has everything going for it — a stable banking and political environment, steady real estate market, the natural resources people want and few social tensions. That makes us a safe haven in a volatile world.

Our immigrant draw: Because of the above, we’re a draw for immigrants, often wealthy ones. When they get here, they need a home. So in my view while the real estate market may level off in some areas of Ontario, it should stay strong in most of the GTA and likely Canada’s other large urban centres as well.

Mortgage defaults: According to CMHC, over 99 per cent of Canadians pay their mortgages on time. It quite a different picture in the U.S. where 7 million homes are in foreclosure and perhaps another 7 million homeowners are under water. This represents almost 15 per cent of all homes. So while the American housing market will likely be weak for the next few years, this should not occur in Canada. Our banks are not dumping homes onto the market, so there is no downward pressure on prices.

Income-to-price ratio: Another misleading statistic is that in major markets, like Toronto, the average price of a home is now 4.6 times the income of the average Canadian. This same statistic was found just before the U.S. and UK markets went into the tank. However, if you look at median incomes of Canadians against the median cost of homes, this average comes down to around 3.5, which is not dangerous. Using averages are wrong. A person receiving social assistance will not buy a home, and should not be included in any relevant statistic.

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While the sale of highrise condos hit record levels in 2011, the supply of new, single-family homes declined to near-record lows. And condos continued their downward slide in size, with new units weighing in at 52 square feet smaller than a year ago.

The average new condo being built in the GTA is now just 820 square feet — about 100 square feet less than units built two years ago, according to a wide-ranging assessment of the new housing market released Friday by research firm RealNet Canada and the Building Industry and Land Development Assoc. (BILD).

Those, and other hard facts about one of the hottest housing markets in the world, has builders calling on government, yet again, to review land-use restrictions, red tape and development fees they say are holding back the creation of new single-family homes and adding years of delays, and millions in costs, to the construction of condo projects.

All those construction cranes and condo sales offices may create the illusion that there is an oversupply of housing across the GTA, but 100,000 new people are moving into the region each year and building just isn’t keeping up with demand, according to RealNet’s research: The inventory — amount available to buy — of both lowrise homes and highrise condos now sit at their lowest levels ever.

“The shift really hit the fan in the GTA in 2011,” said RealNet President George Carras, stressing how dramatically, and quickly, the GTA is changing from a region of sprawling suburbs to a highrise metropolis, but one that risks leaving families few places to live.

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“The market didn’t miss a beat after the holiday season, with robust sales growth continuing and sellers’ market conditions remaining in place. Strong competition between buyers continued to push the average selling price higher in the Greater Toronto Area relative to a year ago,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Richard Silver.

The average selling price during the first two weeks of 2012 was $444,473 – up by more than 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

“Prices were up for most major home categories in the GTA in comparison to last year. The strongest price growth was for single-detached homes in the City of Toronto. The average price of singles in the 416 area code was up by 22 per cent year-over-year, pointing to a greater weighting of higher end detached homes changing hands compared to the same time last year,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.