August 2007 Online eNewsletter

July Sales Fly High
Making Fourth Straight Month
of Record Sales 

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 8,912 total sales in July, 26 percent ahead of the 7,082 sales recorded in July of 2006, and an all time record for the month.

Furthermore, July makes the fourth month in a row that sales have broken monthly records. "The local resale market is as healthy as it has ever been," said TREB President Donald Bentley. "Not only are we running 13 per cent ahead of last year's January - July total of 52,682, we are running 14 per cent ahead of the seven month total for 2005, which became our best year ever."

While sales have set a blistering pace, prices eased in July, down two per cent to $366,012 from June's average of $373,719. "This decline is seasonal in nature," said the President. "Prices tend to ease in July/August as potential homebuyers and sellers go on holiday." He went on to note that the year-to-date average, at $373,326, was up five per cent over the same time-frame in 2006.

Breaking down the total, 3,424 sales were reported in TREB’s 28 West districts and averaged $347,978; 1,590 sales were reported in the 14 Central districts and averaged $470,464; 1,797 sales were reported in the 23 North districts and averaged $392,360; and 2,101 sales were reported in TREB’s 21 East districts and averaged $293,819.

Neighbourhood Corner - North York

There were 5,115 sales in the North York area (C04,C06,C07, and C12 through C15) during the first seven months of 2007, up 12 per cent over the 4,583 sales recorded during the same time-frame in '06. The average price came in at $488,663, a five per cent increase over last year.

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August Wellness Tip

“Be careful about reading health books .
You may die of a misprint.”
~Mark Twain
American humourist, satirist, lecturer & writer, 1835 - 1910

“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it.
I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint.
What I began by reading, I must finish by acting. ”
~Henry David Thoreau
American essayist, poet & philospher 1817 - 1862

“The pleasure of all reading is doubled when one
lives with another who shares the same books.”
~Katherine Mansfield
New Zealander writer 1888 - 1923

Online Gems & Links

worldproperties.com

icx.ca

More Americans Warm Up To
Homes In Newfoundland
http://www.realestatejournal.com/ secondhomes/20070809-belkin.html

Summer Reading Lists
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10628227

http://www.summerreading.org

http://www.opl.on.ca/LostWorldIndex.php

A Banner Year & The First Time Buyer

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reports for the first half of 2007 sales activity rose 8.2 percent year-over-year to 287,862 units. National MLS residential sales activity, new listings, average prices and dollar volume all reached new heights in the second quarter of 2007. Based on Statistics Canada 2006 census data that suggest the average occupancy per household at 2.542 people, more than 730,000 people will experience a change of principal residence in what so far is a record setting year for single family residential dwelling sales.

Experience has shown time and time again that whether you buy a home with or without a mortgage, there is an adjustment to getting use to this new routine of home ownership. Adding in the surprises that often come with homeownership, particularly in the first year, an unprepared person can be unnecessarily adding stress and financial hardship when this could have been avoided. Whether it is the cost of changing the locks, buying a lawn mower, replacing existing light bulbs with energy savers, doing structural repairs now rather than later because they simply cannot wait, this all takes a toll on the homeowner and their resources and time.

The Ipsos-Reid survey found that as many as 26 percent of homeowners were somewhat or totally unprepared for the costs and expenses that occurred during the first year of homeownership. About 20% of homeowners surveyed found the moving experience to be quite or very stressful and a sizeable portion of this 20% admitted to being either somewhat or totally unprepared for the expenses and costs that come with homeownership and the first year of homeownership.

Whether you know that you will handle all the expenses and weather all the surprises and maybe even pay off the mortgage in full in a few years, the stress associated with the financial responsibilities of homeownership can leave you feeling as if this whole experience is completely a leap of faith.

Always be asking questions and seeking out the advice of qualified and competent professionals. Going online to www.juliemather.com/KnowYourNumbers and reading about the expenses or downloading a spreadsheet to help tie all the loose strings together is a good start and a good review. You will also find the survey summary here.

Current and Previous Newsletters in PDF format

- 2007 -
August 2007 Newsletter
July 2007 Newsletter
June 2007 Newsletter
May 2007 Newsletter
April 2007 Newsletter
March 2007 Newsletter
February 2007 Newsletter
January 2007 Newsletter

- 2006 -
December 2006 Newsletter
November 2006 Newsletter
October 2006 Newsletter
September 2006 Newsletter

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