2,565 Resale Housing Transactions Shows Rate of Decline Shrinking

Greater Toronto REALTORS® announced 2,565 transactions in the first half of March compared to 3,183 during the same period last year.  The annual rate of MLS® sales decline was the smallest in five months.

Mid-month March MLS® sales increased compared to the 2,044 sales experienced in the first half of February.  MLS® sales follow a recurring seasonal trend, with transactions generally increasing between January and May and then decreasing between June and December.

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When a home stager is hired one of their primary responsibilities is to stage the property in a manner that best solves problems or perceived issues sellers may have with it. Unfortunately this may not always happen.

CASE IN POINT: Recently I received an Email  from Adam in Chicago asking for advice over a dispute he was having with his stager regarding the worked she had preformed. Adam wrote…

Hello Craig,

My name is Adam and I am having a disagreement with a stager I hired.

I am trying to sell a 2-bedroom condo in Chicago and recently hired a professional to stage the empty condo. The property is unique in that the living room is very long and narrow, which is why my realtor and I thought it was important to stage it to show its potential. This is the only living area of the property so it has to look like a living room.

We’ve since (the staging) had ten showings without an offer.

I had two friends over… both of them said is “this room looks like a hallway”. They also said that the way it’s staged does not show the potential of the living room.

I called the stager… and she maintains that the room is properly staged and that I need to respect her professional opinion. She discounts these opinions because she says she’s the professional.

Do you have any tips on how I could deal with my stager?

Thank you very much,

Adam

So that you have a complete picture of all that was done and how Adam’s $1,000 was used to stage his property, I have created this short video show.

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$1,000 Staging. Done Right or Done Wrong?

March 9, 2009 – March 15, 2009

Here’s a look at the Real Estate Market in Vaughan over the last 7 days:

Vaughan Real Estate Market Overview

There were a total of 88 homes listed in the 10th week of 2009 and a total of 19 sales. The breakdown of new listings includes 6 condos, 9 townhomes, 17 semi’s or links and 56 detached homes with 25 being priced under $500,000, 29 priced between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 2 priced over $1,000,000.

The breakdown of sales includes 3 condos, 1 townhome, 4 semis and 11 detached homes with 11 selling for under $500,000, 0 selling between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 0 selling for over $1,000,000. The average selling price was $363,750. Homes sold for an average of 96% of the list price and were on the market for an average of 58 days. Here is the breakdown for week 10.

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A parody poking fun at the Real Estate downfall…

March 2, 2009 – March 8, 2009

Here’s a look at the Real Estate Market in Vaughan over the last 7 days:

Vaughan Real Estate Market Overview

There were a total of 87 homes listed in the 9th week of 2009 and a total of 32 sales. The breakdown of new listings includes 11 condos, 8 townhomes, 14 semi’s or links and 54 detached homes with 28 being priced under $500,000, 23 priced between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 3 priced over $1,000,000.

The breakdown of sales includes 3 condos, 5 townhome, 6 semis and 18 detached homes with 15 selling for under $500,000, 3 selling between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 0 selling for over $1,000,000. The average selling price was $386,200. Homes sold for an average of 96% of the list price and were on the market for an average of 64 days. Here is the breakdown for week 9.

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