Friday, April 09, 2010

Is now the time to buy real estate in Toronto or the GTA?

John asked:

Hi Mark,

I am a follower of your website, my family and I moved to Mississauga end of last year and has slowly looking for a property for us to live since March, we saw the price up and up, so now we are in a dilemma whether we should buy now or we just wait a little bit until later this year, I know this is a very specific question, but please give us some of your advice based on your experience and observations, thanks very much.

John

Hello John,
Thank you for your real estate inquiry. Nice to hear from a long time reader.

Yes, we can certainly help you find a place to live.

Whether this is the right time of year or the market to purchase, nobody knows for sure. The prices have only been escalating at a fairly constant rate since about 2000 and nearly every year since 1995, see here:

http://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBavg1995date.htm

There are no guarantees, but it appears the market will continue.

HST and increased rates may have something to do with our current rise, but rates are still exceptionally low compared to historical figures, this is why our market has done so well in the past 5 years or so. Even if rates increase 1% in the next 9 months, the mortgage rates are still very low.

You should get into the market as soon as you can in your life, this way you are paying down the mortgage rather than throwing rent money out the window, that's my advice. Buying a home is forced savings, in 25 years at the longest, you will own it outright and then you have a nice property with large equity. If you rent you do not have this at the end of 25 years.

The entire buying process is explained here
http://www.mississauga4sale.com/buying.htm

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if there is anything else I can help you with.

Mark

A. Mark Argentino
P. Eng. Broker
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate

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