2012 a good year to buy a home
FebruaryAre you thinking about buying a home in the Greater Hamilton, Burlington or outlying areas? 2012 should be a good year for making a purchase as large as a house. How do we know? Economists tell us that low interest rates, relatively low unemployment, good employment prospects and business growth are good signs for the housing market, and they are all present for our local market. The Hamilton-Burlington real estate market will see modest growth supported by the expectation of continued good economic conditions.First and foremost, interest rates are low. They are expected to remain low for this year and perhaps into the early part of next year. With five-year fixed mortgage rates available at under five per cent and six-month to four-year rates ranging well below that, the time seems right to be taking advantage of those low rates to buy a home.Unemployment figures for the Hamilton and Burlington areas show our rate is about one per cent lower than the national average and compare even better to the Ontario average. Our unemployment rate is down half-a-percentage point from last year. We have seen new employers bringing successful and active business to this area recently and we are seeing local jobs maintained as well. Employment stability will increase consumer confidence in our local economy and more confidence in the housing market.Our area is the only area in Southern Ontario expected to show economic growth through 2012. In their Housing Outlook Conference in November of last year, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) cited strong jobs growth in our area as one of the reasons we could expect to see growth. The Hamilton area also scored well with the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN), which named Hamilton as the best place in Ontario and the third best in Canada in which to invest in real estate. By taking into account population growth, major employers, infrastructure and pending major transportation improvements, the REIN found Hamilton to be a good bet.And it is not just our economy that makes 2012 a good time to purchase a home in our area.First time buyers taking advantage of low interest rates will find additional incentives to purchase a home through the land transfer tax rebate for first time buyers and the Home Buyer’s Plan, which allows first-time buyers to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs to buy or build a home.Affordability is always an issue, and in the Greater Hamilton, Burlington and outlying areas, we have a wide range of prices, properties and options for home buyers. The average house price in our market area at the end of 2011 was $313,430 – that is just the average. There are homes available for under $100,000 in Hamilton and $1 million homes as well. We have mansions to cottages, historic neighbourhoods to brand new subdivisions, acreages to leaseholds. There really is something for everyone in our area.Our area provides the stability home buyers should be looking for when they are purchasing a home, and a wide range of housing options and opportunities. This could very well be the right year to buy a home in this area.Cameron Nolan President, 2012
source;
REALTORS® Associationof Hamilton-Burlington
http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/662546--why-it-s-a-good-time-to-buy-a-home
Hamilton Randall (Redford Drive )Neighbourhood Blog!
Did you know that the City of Hamilton offers 8 different financial incentive programs to businesses within the downtown core? Full details, and online applications, are available at the link below.http://www.investinhamilton.ca/downtownbia/financial-incentive-programs/ Video brought to you by Hamilton Economic Development - online at www.investinhamilton.ca.
Custom built elegance on picturesque 3.75 Acres. Walk the natural stone path to the inviting double door entry & slate tiled foyer. Enjoy the WOW factor as you take in the open concept view of hardwood flrs, gorgeous crown molding & rounded corners. Large rooms with ceilings ranging from 10 12 feet including the open yet formal dining-room. Massive Great room with pillars, majestic stone fireplace & spectacular views from numerous oak trimmed windows. Garden doors to multi tiered decks & patio. Gourmet kitchen featuring large centre island with sink. Stunning Black granite counters contrasting the lovely Maple cabinets & porcelain tile floors. Loads of cupboards incl. pot drawers, slide out shelves, appliance garage & glass fronted cabinets. Stainless steel appliances complete the look. 4 large bedrms including Master suite with 5 pc ensuite and 2nd bedrm with 3 pc ensuite. 4th bedrm with 3 skylights would make great office or study. Bright fully finished walk out basement would make excellent in-law suite or provide fabulous entertaining space. Garage with 3 bay doors and 14 ft ceilings is a Mechanics Dream!
TORONTO,ON, November 2, 2011 – Royal LePage Real Estate Services today launched an innovative new mobile website, developed for Android, iPhone and BlackBerry mobile devices. With a user-friendly, app-like feel, the site will provide information on Royal LePage listings across Canada, as well as a wide range of neighbourhood information. Most notably, the site will include comments from those who know the listings and neighbourhoods best – the homes’ current owners and real estate agents.
“Buying a home is often the largest financial decision Canadians will make in their lifetime,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “To help prospective buyers make informed decisions, our new mobile site allows users to gain extra insights from the seller about their home and comments from the agent about the neighbourhood.”
“While it will take some time to get the seller and agent comments populated, we have many advanced features to serve as the backbone for the mobile site,” added Soper.
In what Royal LePage has coined “Neighbourhood Navigator,” seller and agent comments will combine with neighbourhood “walkability scores” and consumer rankings of nearby businesses to provide valuable insights for users. In addition to cross-Canada property searching, the mobile website takes advantage of a user’s GPS location to locate nearby open houses and neighbourhood amenities including schools, banks, grocery stores, restaurants and cafes. The site also offers users the ability to contact the listing agent or find a nearby Royal LePage office.
Two examples of cities that have been pre-populating or piloting the seller and agent comments are Kelowna, BC and Gatineau, QC. Listings that feature seller or agent comments appear as “Info Plus” listings.
“The future is mobile and we’re pleased to offer homebuyers and sellers the ability to access valuable real estate information right from their mobile devices,” added Soper.
Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country’s leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's & children’s shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.
For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca.
TORONTO, October 5, 2011 - The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed the average price of a home in Canada increased between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the previous year. The strength of home price appreciation in the third quarter defied expectations as very low interest rates buoyed consumer confidence in a comparatively stable Canadian economy. Year-over-year gains appear deceptively strong in comparison to a weak third quarter of 2010.
"The strength in Canada’s national housing market conceals signs of predictable softening in some regions," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "The third quarter saw a return to a normal seasonal business cycle as price appreciation slowed in many areas – with some average values even falling slightly – after the busy spring trading season. A broader slowdown is expected in the months ahead but fears of a US-style correction are completely unfounded."
In the third quarter of 2011, the national average price of a detached bungalow rose 7.8 per cent year-over-year to $349,974, while standard two-storey homes rose 7.7 per cent to $388,218 and standard condominiums rose 5.7 per cent to $239,300.
"To best provide Canadians with an accurate look at the housing market, Royal LePage uses year-over-year comparisons as the housing market follows a seasonal pattern. It is important to note that our 2011 third quarter results benefit greatly by going head-to-head with what was by far the previous year’s weakest period," continued Soper.
Sustained demand from foreign buyers helped drive prices up in the country’s largest markets as Vancouver’s standard two-storey homes rose 16.9 per cent year-over-year to $1,142,500 while detached bungalows in Toronto climbed 9.4 per cent to $518,433. Conversely, while the volume of homes trading hands has increased in Alberta, house prices in the province remained soft with detached bungalows in Calgary falling 1.0 per cent in the third quarter. Similarly, detached bungalows and standard two-storey homes in Victoria fell 2.0 and 1.1 per cent respectively.
"Canadian home owners have turned a deaf ear to the negative economic situation shaking housing markets in Europe and the United States," added Soper. "A resilient domestic economy coupled with the stimulative effect of ultra low interest rates has extended the post-recession bounce in house prices, but there is evidence of over-shooting in some markets. Although some commentators are predicting that the sky will fall on the Canadian housing market in a US-style implosion, we lack the structural conditions that precipitated the housing crash in the United States six years ago."
In Atlantic Canada, while other major markets remained relatively flat year-over-year, Halifax posted healthy gains in all three housing types surveyed with standard condominiums increasing 10.4 per cent. Similarly, standard condominiums in Saint John also witnessed an increase of 10.4 per cent. This is attributable to sales of higher-end waterfront listings.
Continued confidence in Montreal’s residential real estate market remained strong as year-over-year prices for standard two-storey homes rose 4.4 per cent to $367,500 while standard condominiums rose 7.6 per cent to $236,333.
Healthy price appreciation was witnessed in all three housing types surveyed in Ottawa, as standard two-storey homes rose on average 8.4 per cent. Standard condominiums and detached bungalows increased 7.9 per cent and 7.0 per cent respectively.
Toronto witnessed impressive price gains across all three housing types surveyed due to a lack of supply. Standard two-storey homes increased 7.6 per cent year-over-year and detached bungalows 9.4 per cent over the same period. Standard condominiums increased a healthy but more modest 6.0 per cent as demand was more easily met with a higher level of inventory.
Population growth is fueling Winnipeg’s healthy price appreciation as standard condominiums increased 6.4 per cent, detached bungalows increased 5.1 per cent and standard two-storey homes increased 4.4 per cent.
Both Calgary and Edmonton remained relatively flat year-over-year except for standard condominiums, which increased 3.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively. Two storey-homes in Edmonton also posted a gain of 3.8 per cent.
Vancouver’s traditional housing types performed exceptionally well as detached bungalows rose 17.0 per cent year-over-year and standard two-storey homes rose 16.9 per cent. Condominiums in the city increased a more modest, but healthy, 5.1 per cent due to higher inventory.
Royal LePage’s quarterly House Price Survey shows the annual change of prices for key housing segments in select national markets. Click here to download the chart
The Royal LePage House Price Survey is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind in Canada, with information on seven types of housing in over 250 neighbourhoods from coast to coast. This release references an abbreviated version of the survey which highlights house price trends for the three most common types of housing in Canada in 90 communities across the country. A complete database of past and present surveys is available on the Royal LePage Web site atwww.royallepage.ca. Current figures will be updated following the complete tabulation of the data for the third quarter 2011. A printable version of the third quarter 2011 survey will be available online on November 4th, 2011.
Housing values in the Royal LePage House Price Survey are Royal LePage opinions of fair market value in each location, based on local data and market knowledge provided by Royal LePage residential real estate experts.
Michael GotzamanisFleishman-Hillard Canada(416) 598-5788michael.gotzamanis@fleishman.ca
Tammy GilmerDirector, Global Communications & Public RelationsRoyal LePage Real Estate Services(416) 510-5783tgilmer@royallepage.ca
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What should I consider as I plan my retirement?
http://www.burlingtonseniorsrealestate.com/
Residential condominium market sees highest gains in September
(October 5, 2011 – Hamilton, Ontario) The real estate market in the Greater Hamilton, Burlington and outlying areas* continued to show increases in listings, sales and average sale price when compared to the same month last year, according to Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) statistics released today by the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB).The residential condominium market saw the largest gain with a 13.8 per cent increase in the number of sales when compared to last September. The same market also saw a less than one percent decrease in average sale price from September of last year. The 206 condominium sales were better than the ten-year average of 198 sales for the month.“We are heading into the fall market with positive reports on the market,” said RAHB President Ann Forbes Arndt. “In general, we are seeing better-than-average results across the board when we look at last year and the ten-year average.”For the third quarter of the year, numbers of listings and sales in the residential market are well ahead of the same quarter last year, with listings up 10.7 per cent, sales up 13.5 per cent and average sale price up 3.5 per cent.“Last year’s third quarter included the months immediately following the implementation of the HST, when we saw activity in the real estate market drop considerably,” added Arndt, “so it’s no wonder that this year compared so well to last.”While third quarter figures compared favourably to last year’s third quarter, year to date results show a different story. Listings of residential properties are down 3.3 per cent while sales are down 0.5 per cent for the same nine-month period. Average sale price, however, is four per cent higher year to date than last year at the same time. Total dollar volume of $2.895B in residential sales is 3.7 per cent higher than last year for the same period.“Every community in our marketing area has their own localized residential market with larger swings than we see in the overall numbers,” said Arndt. Hamilton East, Hamilton Centre, Dundas, Flamborough and Glanbrook all saw significant increases in numbers of sales, while Waterdown, Grimsby and Caledonia showed the largest drops in sales compared to September of last year.Stoney Creek and Dunnville were the only communities with a sizeable decrease in average sale price compared to last year. Waterdown and Ancaster had the greatest increases in average sale price.Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activities in other parts of RAHB’s jurisdiction.Figures quoted are for sales and average sale prices of units located in the jurisdiction* of the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington and processed through RAHB’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®). Unit sales reflect “all property types” including residential, condominium, commercial property, farm, vacant land and business, unless otherwise specified.*RAHB’s jurisdiction includes Burlington, Waterdown, Flamborough and Dundas in the north; Hamilton, Ancaster, Stoney Creek, and Grimsby along Lake Ontario; and extends down to the shores of Lake Erie, including Glanbrook, West Lincoln, Smithville, Dunnville, Cayuga, Caledonia, and Hagersville.>
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Contest awards winner a grand prize of $20,000
TORONTO, Aug. 8, 2011 /CNW/ - What makes your neighbourhood great? Is it the big trees? The friendly people down the street? Kids playing outside? Or the great coffee shop only a block away?
Now in its second year, Royal LePage is pleased to announce its My Great Neighbourhood contest. Canadians are asked to submit an entry online explaining why they love where they live. Winners are selected based on how creative, original, informative, and compelling their entry is. The number of Facebook votes the entry receives is also considered.
"Canadians have a lot to be proud about and the My Great Neighbourhood contest allows residents from coast to coast to creatively showcase the many reasons why they love where they live," said Phil Soper, President and Chief Executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "We encourage Canadians to share the beauty of their city, the caring spirit of their neighbours, or what makes them proud to live in their community."
In the fall of 2009 a not-for-profit group in North Oakville, The Oak Park Moms and Tots Centre, which offers poverty relief, parenting support and social opportunities to hundreds in the community, faced an uncertain future. Michelle Knoll, board member at Moms and Tots, entered the organization into Royal LePage's My Great Neighbourhood contest.
Knoll created a video explaining what a fantastic place the Moms and Tots was, and in the end she won, generously donating 100 per cent of her winnings to the centre. The money provided much needed relief from its financial difficulties, and the Oak Park Moms and Tots is still open today, offering its neighbours in need a higher quality of life. For a glimpse at the 2009 winning entry click here.
Canadians, groups or individual entrants are asked to upload a video, or as many as five images to the My Great Neighbourhood website, along with a short explanation outlining what it is that makes them so passionate about their neighbourhood.
After a voting period for the public and evaluation by a jury, the lucky winner(s) of the contest will receive a grand prize of $20,000. There is also a second prize of $3,500 and a third prize of $1,500.
"At Royal LePage, we're committed to giving back to the communities in which our agents live and work," said Soper. "We look forward to receiving many entries and celebrating all of Canada's great neighbourhoods."
The contest runs until October 21, 2011. To enter, or for more information, please visitmygreatneighbourhood.royallepage.ca.
About Royal LePage
Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country's leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's & children's shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.
For more information visitvisit www.royallepage.ca or www.brookfieldresinc.com.
Megan StoudtMegan.stoudt@fleishman.ca416 645 8206
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfBfoOrUQWI
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