Monday, May 04, 2009

Good time to trade up in real estate?

I had another email commenting about the current real estate slump we are in and whether it's a good time to trade up or not. This is my current view of the real estate market in Mississauga and the GTA.

This person bought 2.5 years ago and expected to make some money on his purchase. He also wants to sell his current condo that is worth about $160k and trade up to a larger semi for about $300k. This was my response.

I understand how you feel about buying and holding and expecting to make money. Since 1995 this philosophy worked well, until the current economic slump. I've had other clients in similar situations as you. What I have found is that you will benefit by the downturn since the larger more expensive properties have dropped much more compared to your condo, thus the difference is far less than it was 2 years ago.
The market is typically good up until mid June and then slows again for the summer, until about middle/end of August. Thus, if you want to sell this spring, the sooner the better, otherwise you may wish to wait until late summer. Of course these are historical trends and each year could be different. With that said, we expect this year to be similar to previous years, just not as large of a spike in the spring. See this graph: http://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBavg1995date.htm
Thank you,
Mark

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