Toronto Real Estate and Homes For Sale

Toronto Real Estate - May 2008 Davisville Village Homes For Sale and Sold

41 Hoyle Av		239 Manor Rd		580 Balliol St

Not Staging Your Toronto Home for Sale Can Cost You Big Dollars!

My partner and I have worked together in residential real estate sales for over 25 years. In the mid nineties my partner had an opportunity to join a large commercial real estate broker, which he did. After five years he decided he would rather work with residential consumers and rejoined me in residential real estate sales in central Toronto.

One of the first comments he made was how much the market had changed and how all homes for sale were so much more  ’staged compared to only a few years earlier. This was about the time the ‘Martha Stewart school of proper living was just beginning. Since then, it has become a prerequisite to have your home staged for sale prior to placing the for sale sign on the lawn.

Todays demanding and short-for-time buyers will simply turn around and go look at the next home if the home they are previewing does not match their preconceived ideas of the perfect home.

According to Stagedhomes.com unstaged homes spent an average of 22 days on the market. Those staged by a professional lasted only an average of 11 days on the market.
 
The staging industry also makes big claims for staging: Unstaged home prices averaged $518,820. Comparable staged homes sold on average for $557,271, a 7.4 percent difference. 

In a way, staging a home becomes a free expense since, in the majority of cases, the seller recoups all the money spent and receives a significantly higher selling price.

Barb Schwartz, author of Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money, makes an even bolder claim. According to Schwartzs recent figures, staged homes priced under $1 million sell for 10 percent more than comparable unstaged homes. Staged homes listed for $1 million-plus sell for a 20 percent premium, she says.
Staging expert Peggy Selinger-Eaton offers these tips to do-it-yourself stagers:

Read the rest of this article »

Toronto Real Estate - May 2008 Leaside Homes For Sale and Sold

88 Vanderhoof		253 McRae

The homes shown here are MLS listings by various broker companies, sales representatives and broker members of the Toronto Real Estate Board. For more information on any of these homes send us an email.

Toronto Real Estate - Globe and Mail housing information about Toronto real estate market incorrect

On April 25, 2008 the Globe and Mail featured a two page spread showing average prices of homes in most neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area. The information was provided to the newspaper by Realosophy, a blog website dedicated to providing Toronto real estate information.
According to the Globe, the information provided by Realosophy is based on “data mapping technology” developed by Realosophy itself.

At first glance, I thought there were significant differences in the information provided in the Globe and Mail and my own knowledge, which is based solely on the fact that I have my “finger on the pulse” and my twenty plus years selling homes in these neighbourhoods. Curious to find out about the discrepancies, I sat in front of my computer and double-checked the same areas the newspaper had quoted sales figures for. 

I expected to find small variations primarily because many of these Toronto neighbourhoods are defined solely by real estate agents and the public. There are no official maps or boundary lines that clearly define the neighborhoods in Toronto. The closer I looked at the newspaper numbers the more I noticed serious discrepancies in prices.

Lets take a look at some examples:
Bennington Heights is a neighborhood with a small pocket of homes that are tucked away at the south west corner of Moore Avenue and Bayview. The Globes average sale price in 2006 is shown as $876,500. My figures show $834,200.

The Globes sale price for this neighbourhood in 2007 was $ 1,404,214. My figures show an average sale price of $1,168,816. or 17% less than the Globes stated average sale price.

I found major discrepancies in other neighborhoods as well, such as Davisville Village. In 2006 according to the Globe, the average sale price of a home was $476,423. Based on my detailed count made street-by-street and using Toronto Real Estate Board figures, the average for Davisville Village was $602,200. That is a whopping 21% percent higher than the Globe and Mail numbers.

In this same neighbourhood, the Globe shows an average sale price of $536,108 in 2007 and an average sale price of $495,553 in the first quarter of 2008. Using the same street-by-street method, my figures are radically different, with an average sale price of $703,214 for 2007 or 31% higher, and an average sale price of $689,776 in the first quarter of 2008, a 40% difference!

A word of caution! Can you depend on newspaper figures in an ever changing real estate market such as Torontos? In the past, many of us have grown used to relying on information such as that published by the Globe and Mail and other sources we consider to be reliable. Real estate prices can and do vary greatly on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Changes in interest rates coupled with the varying supply of homes available in a given area can have a significant impact on both the up and down prices of homes.

Most newspapers simply can not react quickly enough to report on these changes. My suggestion is to use this information provided by the Globe and other sources, but only as a general guideline.A qualified professional who specializes in a particular neighbourhood will always be able to provide you with more accurate and relevant home pricing information than any printed source.

May 09, 2008 - I will be reviewing the average sale prices  in other neighbourhoods as well as the changing price trends shortly.

Toronto Real Estate - Find your Toronto home with ONE click

Find exactly what you are looking for on this site with ONE CLICK. Enter a neighbourhood such as Leaside, or an address such as 786 Bessborough in the SEARCH box on this page in the upper right corner, above the homes photos, and voila, there it is.

You can also search for phrases such as average sale prices in lawrence park, or homes for sale in Davisville Village. Search is not case sensitive.

Not able to find what you want, send us an email. WE WILL NOT SPAM YOU.

Toronto Real Estate - Is the Toronto real estate market about to catch the U.S. flu?

All major Canadian banks cut their prime lending rate by 50 basis points yesterday after the Bank of Canada slashed its main rate by half a percentage point. The bank warned that a serious economic slowdown was only just beginning pointing that Canada faces a tough two years. ‘A troubled U.S. economy has hit exports hard, and undermined business and consumer confidence, the bank said.

Yale University economist Robert Shiller, who long predicted the housing market bubble, cautioned that the slump in the U.S. housing market could cause prices to fall more than they did in the Great Depression, and bailouts will be needed so millions dont lose their homes.

Shiller who pioneered the widely watched Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller home price index, said there is a good chance housing prices will fall further than the 30 per cent drop in the historic depression of the 1930s.

In the United States home prices have already fallen 15 per cent since their peak in 2006, he said.

What has been driving soaring house prices in Canada in recent years?

Toronto Real Estate - Leaside market still favours home sellers

Some real estate markets simply defy all common wisdom, and apparently march to the beat of a completely different real estate drummer.

Leaside is no exception and continues to be one of Torontos hottest real estate markets. A brief look at the last 25 sales in this high-demand neighbourhood shows no fear or holding back by homebuyers.

The percentages on the graph are based on a calculation of the last twenty five home sales in Leaside.

Sixty four percent were sold above the asking price.
Twelve percent of the homes sold in the last month received the full asking price.
Less than a quarter of these homes sold below the listed price.

Toronto Real Estate - Lawrence Park homes for sale april 2008

Inventory of homes for sale in Lawrence Park remains fairly constant with fifteen homes for sale in early April. Prices range from mid nine hundred thousand dollars to over five million three hundred thousand.

280 St Leonards Avenue		105 Stratford Crescent		25 Sunnydene Crescent

The homes shown here are MLS listings by various broker companies, sales representatives and broker members of the Toronto Real Estate Board. For more information on any of these homes send us an email.

Toronto Real Estate - Leaside homes for sale april 2008

With the arrival of kinder weather, Leaside inventory of homes for sale has gone up significantly compared to the last few months. In early April there are a total of twenty six homes available for sale, ranging from the mid five hundred thousand dollars to over one million eight hundred thousand.

124 Randolph Road		199 Sutherland Drive		253 McRae Drive

Toronto Real Estate - Who are my neighbours in Leaside

Demographically, the Leaside community is made up predominantly of single-family homes housing upper-middle class families. The most famous house in Leaside is James Leas, located at 201 Sutherland Drive.

Built in 1909, it is unique in that the back of the house faces Sutherland Drive. It was originally built to face a street that no longer exists.

The 22nd and current Prime Minister Stephen Harper was also born and raised in Leaside. Due to city expansion, Leaside has become prime real estate with the Greater Toronto Area. Recently a home on Leasides prime street sold for over two million dollars, a record for this neighbourhood.

Source: City of Toronto Ward demographics.