Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Real Estate Predictions for the GTA marketplace

These are my observations of the current and future GTA and Mississauga Real Estate Marketplace.

Many are predicting a "market crash"

Many have been predicting we are in a bubble in the GTA for about the past 2 years or so. Certainly the market is overheated. There are many reasons for this.
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Lack of supply and low interest rates have pushed up prices to record highs.
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There is uneasiness in the economy, especially the USA and global areas.
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The underlying economy doesn't support the rise in the market, we've drawn the people into the market due to low rates.
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Consumer confidence is lower and so is the supply of listings, people are feeling a little less confident to move up, so this is the reason that the number of listings is down and has been down since 2009.
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Once the job market and Europe and USA economies pick up then consumer confidence will improve and then they'll put more homes on the market and we should have a more balanced market.

The condo market is the area that I see softening a little over the next couple of year, many new buildings coming on stream and this may create a bit of a glut of condos on the market - prices for condos are already
softening. Once rates begin to rise, probably not until late next year, first time buyers will not be able to buy as much as they are now and the market should adjust somewhat.

This is what I see for the next 6 months or so:
1.
Prices will rise in the next few months due to high demand and low supply.
2.
Ownership should remain flat and fewer first time buyers on the market as the rates increase along with more listings thus slower price growth.
3.
There are considerable opportunities to purchase for long term price growth in some of the outlying areas, such as Brampton, Milton, Burlington and north Oakville. This would be similar to what we have seen in
Mississauga with price increases from the mid 90's to 2010 or so.
4.
I feel the condominium investor should be very cautious as we may see a pullback in prices which will help stabilize the marketplace.
5.
Thus, I don't see any "crash" in the marketplace, just a softening of prices, but not at least until the 3rd or 4th quarter this year.

I have been uneasy about the marketplace since about 2002 and we continue to see year over year price increases. The average price has increased for 17 years in a row, see the graph
<http://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBavg1995date.htm> here and here
<http://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm#graph> , this makes me a little uneasy, but the fundamentals of the marketplace and the economy are far different compared to any time in the past.

I hope this helps you with your real estate decisions. You will have to make your own decision based upon your personal situation and how you feel about the marketplace, I know it's not easy.

Maybe you want an over the internet evaluation of your home just to give you an idea of your current value. We can do this with no obligation. Would you like a Complimentary
<http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm> & Quick Over-The-Net Home Evaluation ?

Mark

Friday, May 18, 2012

2.99% for 4 Year Mortgage! Mortgage interest rate promotion

I recently was emailed a fabulous mortgage rate promotion. See the rates
below.

Thanks to recent renewed trouble in Europe, we see some new mortgage rate
promotion.




4 year fixed at 2.99%, fully qualified deals only. This promotion is ending
at May 22.

3 year fixed at 2.99%.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or require further
information about this promotion.

Thank you,

Mark