THE TORONTO LIGHT FESTIVAL JAN 18 – MAR 3 The city’s original light festival artfully illuminates the Distillery Historic District. TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW JAN 17 – 26 Get a preview of summer at this 10-day show devoted to all things watercraft at the Enercare Centre. ART, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN FILM FESTIVAL JAN 22 – 26 Celebrate the architects, artists & designers who have shaped our world at Toronto’s newest festival. Presented with Hot... [read more]

2019 Sales Increase 12.6% Happy New Year! We hope you had an enjoyable holiday season. If buying or selling real estate is at the top of your New Year’s resolutions, this is a great place to start. Looking back at 2019, the market exhibited a solid recovery following its decade-low 78,015 sales total in 2018. With 87,825 residential sales reported through the Toronto Real Estate Board’s MLS system, 2019 sales were in line with the median annual sales from the past decade, and... [read more]

My Take, Increase in number of insolvencies has been long expected and is an unfortunate by-product of short term thinking and careless policies. I am puzzled and surprised how dismissive and carefree the ones who are expected to know better and supposed to protect the consumers are. One of the main contributors to household debt is real estate. There has not been much of control on mortgage approvals resulting in over heated market, many purchased more than they can afford hoping the... [read more]

Surge in number of Canadians who can't pay their debts has economists worried — and scratching their heads. Insolvencies are accelerating at a pace that's been associated with periods of distress, yet the economic backdrop has been positive A surge in the number of people who can’t play their debts is raising eyebrows in Canada. Some 11,935 consumers filed for insolvency in September, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy — a 19 per cent... [read more]

Summer's warmth is now a fading memory and the inescapable and important task of winterizing your home before the first big freeze looms. Luckily, we've created a checklist of many things to consider before that first snowfall with help from Jim Fisher, a general contractor with 50 years experience in the industry.   1. Garden hoses  Disconnect any garden hoses, drain them of any residual water and store them away somewhere dry, protected from the weather. Why?... [read more]

Big losers in Canadian election could be foreign real-estate speculators The biggest losers of Monday’s federal election may not be a political party, but foreign homebuyers and homeowners, who are facing the possibility of new taxes levied on them by a Liberal minority government supported by the New Democrats.   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals vowed in their platform to “limit the housing speculation that can drive up home prices” with a national... [read more]

LOOKING GOOD This year’s active spring market has continued its strong pace. The Toronto Real Estate Board released the housing figures for May and with 9,989 sales reported, there was an 18.9% increase in sales volume over the same period last year. Though the jump is dramatic, it should be noted that May 2018 represented a 15-year low and that sales were still slightly off the 10-year-average for May, which is just under 10,300. The average price of all transactions rose to... [read more]

First-Time Byuers' Tax Credit Program First-time home buyers may be  eligible for a 15 percent income tax credit for  closing costs. Details • To assist first-time home buyers with the costs related to the purchase of a home. • The First-Time Home Buyers’ Credit (FTHBC) provides a 15 percent credit on a maximum of $5,000 of home purchase costs (e.g. legal fees, land transfer taxes, etc.), meaning maximum tax relief of $750. • Applicable to first-time... [read more]

NEWS RELEASE TREB Releases Monthly Market Figures Reported By GTA REALTORS® TORONTO, January 4, 2018 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Tim Syrianos announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 92,394 sales through TREB’s MLS® System in 2017.  This total was down 18.3 per cent compared to the record set in 2016. Record sales in Q1 were followed by a decline in Q2 and Q3 after the Ontario Fair Housing Plan (FHP) was announced.  The pace of sales... [read more]

NEWS RELEASE TREB Releases Condo Market Figures AS Reported By GTA REALTORS® TORONTO, January 22, 2018 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Tim Syrianos announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,773 condominium apartment sales through TREB’s MLS® System in the fourth quarter of 2017.  This result was down by 15.4 per cent compared to the last three months of 2016. Over the same period, new condominium apartment listings were up by 9.8 per cent to... [read more]