By now you have no doubt heard all of the talk about the strong seller’s market we are currently experiencing in the city of Vaughan. Smart homeowners looking to take advantage of the current market conditions have been scrambling to beat other home sellers to market all in an effort to fetch record high prices for their homes.

Understanding the current real estate market conditions is really a matter of understanding the most basic economic theory – The Law of Supply and Demand.

Let’s break down the 3 basic types of Real Estate Markets:

Buyer’s Market

A buyer’s market is characterized by supply outweighing demand. In real estate that means the number of homes available for sale exceeds the demand for homes from buyers.

The result in the market is:

• Buyers have more options to choose from as their is an abundance of supply
• Buyers have the luxury of taking their time and waiting for the very best deals
• Buyers have the advantage when it comes to negotiating power
• Prices trend downwards

Seller’s Market

A seller’s market is characterized by demand outweighing supply. In real estate that means the number of buyers looking for a home exceeds the supply of homes available from sellers.

The result in the market is:

• Buyers have less options to choose from as their is a limited supply
• Buyers must act quickly as the competition for the very best homes is fierce
• Sellers have the advantage when it comes to negotiating power
• Prices trend upwards

Balanced Market

A balanced market is characterized by supply and demand remaining equal. In real estate that means the number of homes available for sale is relatively equal to the number of buyers looking to buy a home at any given time.

The result in the market is:

• Buyers have a reasonable amount of choice due to the healthy supply of homes availabe
• Buyers have a reasonable amount of time to search for a home but must be prepared to act when necessary
• There is no inherent advantage for buyer or seller when it comes to negotiating power
• Prices will stabilize and homes sell for a reasonable amount

Market Transition

Eventually the market will transition from one of the above conditions to another. Given the timing of the current sellers market there is a good chance that the market transition will begin to occur with the arrival of the Spring Market.

Traditionally the Spring is a time when many home owners decide to put their house on the market. This will effectively increase the supply and unless the number of buyers contiues to exceed the incoming supply of homes available for sale we will begin to see a market transition from Seller’s Market to a Balanced Market.

Now’s the Time to Act

If you’re a seller looking to cpitalize on the current seller’s market and get top dollar for your home, now’s the time to act. Take advantage of the current seller’s market before the market transitions to a balanced market with the coming of the Spring.  If you’re curious about what homes are selling for in your neighbourhood why not request your FREE copy of the Vaughan Real Estate Report!

What do buyers want in their next home?

It’s not an easy question to answer and the answer can vary a great deal from one buyer to the next. While personal circumstances and individual preferences will often dictate the answer to this question, this article seeks to identify which features are generally more important to buyers when considering a home purchase in Vaughan.

I spend the vast majority of my time with two very distinct types of home buyers. The first group are first-time buyers which is pretty self-explanatory. The second group are what I like to call “first-time up-graders” which are those buyers looking to move into a home that addresses the shortcomings of their existing home. They aren’t necessarily second-time buyers but they are often people that have out grown their current home.

More Storage Space

I always tell my clients that you can never have too much storage space. A little cliche to be sure but don’t let that diminish the truth in the statement. Believe it or not a big consideration when it comes to ’storage space’ is the garage. More and more buyers today are insisting on a double garage. Very few people use the garage for it’s intended purpose (to store/park cars) but it sure makes a great place to pile a lot of other stuff. Of course it doesn’t hurt that it usually includes access to a main floor laundry/mud room… yet another place people store their stuff!

First-time buyers: This is rarely a concern as many of them don’t have enough ’stuff’ to fill the main rooms in the house they are considering let alone extra stuff to fill storage space. The double garage is still highly sought after!

First-time up-graders: These folks could teach the first-timers a thing or too. These are the buyers that count kitchen cabinets, open closet doors and look for space under the basement stairs all in an effort to determine if there is more storage space than their previous home. The double garage is truly a must have!

Other storage space considerations that rank high on most buyers lists are walk-in closets (especially in the master bedroom), cold storage room in the basement (or as my friends in Woodbridge like to say ‘the cantina’) and a large pantry in the kitchen.

High Ceilings

There is a major ongoing trend in new home construction when it comes to ceiling heights which have been rising over the last 10 years. By 2005, 9-foot ceilings surpassed 8-foot ceilings as the standard in new single-family homes. Many upscale homes now come standard with 10-foot ceilings or more on the main floor and 9-foot ceilings on the second floor and in the basement. Ceiling height helps to make homes appear significantly larger and adds to the overall aesthetics of the home.

Both first-time buyers and first-time up-graders consider this amongst their most sought after features.

Technology Ready Home

It should come as no surprise that cable or satellite readiness and access to high-speed Internet are amongst the most important features for buyers. By extension, buyers place a premium on homes that enable technology especially when it comes to new construction. Many buyers express interest in homes that have been pre-wired for surround-sound, in-wall speakers, high speed Internet via Cat-5 Ethernet cables and HD digital satellite or cable via RG-6 cables. After all what good is the latest 60″ HD Plasma TV if you don’t have an HD feed!

Both first-time buyers and first-time up-graders consider this amongst their most sought after features.

Larger Room Sizes

Room Sizes have been gradually increasing for a number of years. Buyers tend to place the most importance on 3 key rooms which include the Kitchen, the Family room and the Master bedroom. You can expect to see these 3 rooms continue to increase in size over the next 10 years while rooms such as the living and dining room are likely to get smaller or disappear altogether. Many new homes scrap the living room and instead incorporate that space into the Family room otherwise known as the ‘Great’ room.

First-time up-graders: Room sizes are especially important as they have already experienced a deficiency based on the room sizes in their previous home.

Other Notable Features

Some other notable features that home buyers consider very important when buying a home include central air conditioning, recessed lighting, hardwood flooring, energy efficiency and the potential to turn a profit should they decide to sell that home in the near future.

You may be wondering why knowing what other home buyers want in a home is important.  Of course you as a home buyer in Vaughan will have your own priorities when it comes to the features that are most important to you however consider one important fact: Knowing which features hold the most general market appeal to the largest number of buyers will certainly help when it comes time to sell that same home down the road.

Did I miss anything?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Steven Andrade is a Vaughan Real Estate Agent with Royal LePage Maximum in Vaughan.  To speak with Steven about buying or selling a home in Vaughan please call: 416. 324. 2626

In January, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for Canada reached 186,300 units, up six per cent from December’s upwardly revised 176,100 units. The increase encompassed both single-detached home starts, which climbed 3.3 percent to 88,900 units, and multiple-family starts (including condominium apartments), which rose 5.7 per cent to 76,300 units. While the annual rate of Ontario starts rose 1.5 per cent to 53,300 units, the GTA rate bucked the national trend and dipped 0.5 percent to 20,700 due to a decline in high-rise construction.

The Canadian numbers are representative of tightening resale market conditions during the second half of 2009. As existing home sales rose relative to listings across the country, a growing number of home buyers visited new home sales centres. Increased new home sales are now translating into an uptick in home construction. In the GTA where the volatile high-rise component registered a decline, the rate of housing starts is expected to pick up moving forward. Strong growth in new low and high-rise sales in the last two quarters of 2009 will drive an upward trend in home construction.

Click here to view the GTA Release

Click here to view the Canadian Release

Jason Mercer – TREB Senior Manager of Market Analysis

February 5, 2010 — Being in the dog days of winter, I’m certain a lot of people are dreaming longingly of summer weather, backyard barbecues, and long weekends. For many Canadians, Canada Day is always the unofficial start of the summer season. Unfortunately, this year, Canada Day is also the start of something a little less inspiring: the provincial government’s new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Not exactly a nice way to celebrate our nation’s birthday.

What does the HST mean for you?

In a nutshell, this tax will expand the provincial eight percent sales tax to apply, as of July 1, 2010, to the things that are currently applicable to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). This means that home buyers will have to pay PST on numerous items that they currently do not, including home inspection fees, legal fees, moving costs, home appraisals, and real estate service fees or commissions. For the average home buyer in the Greater Toronto Area, the HST will mean about $2,000 in new taxes.

Fortunately, however, there is still action that the provincial government can, and should, take to soften the HST’s blow, particularly for home buyers. Most importantly, the provincial government should take a serious look at its current Land Transfer Tax (LTT), which, if left as-is, would mean that home buyers are paying, not two sales taxes (provincial and federal), but three!

The provincial LTT is, essentially, a sales tax on home buyers, which is calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of their home. For the average GTA home buyer, the provincial LTT costs about $4,000, up front. That’s a pretty hefty sales tax. To make things worse, if you’re buying a home in the City of Toronto, you also have to pay a Municipal Land Transfer Tax of about the same amount.

REALTORS® have always voiced concern about land transfer taxes. Simply put, these are unfair taxes that target home buyers. Furthermore, land transfer taxes are bad policy because they make home ownership more difficult to achieve.

When the provincial government first proposed the HST, provincial politicians said that the HST was not intended to generate more revenue for the Province and that, in fact, it would be revenue neutral because of the credits that businesses would be able to claim under the new system. Well, REALTORS® strongly believe that the government should also take action to ensure that the taxes charged to home buyers also remain neutral. With the HST heading towards implementation, the best way for the government to offset its impact on homebuyers would be to take action on its unfair Land Transfer Tax.

For months, the provincial government has been going to great effort to convince Ontarians that the HST is not a tax grab and is simply a re-design of the tax system to improve efficiency and economic competitiveness. Whether or not that is true is debatable, but it’s clear to REALTORS® that, by taking action on its Land Transfer Tax to offset the HST on homebuyers, the government has a clear opportunity to put its money where its mouth is.

Written by: Tom Lebour - President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, a professional association that represents 28,000 REALTORS® in the Greater Toronto Area.

TORONTO, February 3, 2010 — Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,986 transactions through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in January 2010. This result represented a large increase over the 2,670 sales in January 2009 when the home sales were in a recessionary trough. Last month’s sales were slightly higher than the January average in the five years preceding 2009.

“The GTA housing market has rebounded well from the lows in sales experienced at the beginning of 2009. Sales climbed back to healthy levels across the GTA because the cost of home ownership remained affordable in the Toronto area,” said TREB President Tom Lebour.  “Increasingly confident consumers moved to take advantage of affordable home ownership.”

The average home selling price in January 2010 climbed 19 per cent to $409,058, compared to 343,632 in the same month last year.

“Expect strong annual growth rates for existing home sales and average price through the first quarter as we continue to make comparisons to the weak market conditions at the beginning of 2009,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The rate of sales and price growth will be lower in the second half of 2010.”