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- house and condo prices
- new condo openings
- interest rate changes
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- information useful to sellers
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So welcome aboard! We hope you enjoy our monthly real estate newsletter, and find it both interesting and valuable. We look forward to serving you every month!
This Month’s Edition
August, 2021
The initial tax rate will be set at one per cent of the property’s current value assessment (CVA) for the year in which the home is vacant. So if your property in Toronto is valued at, say, $700,000, and it’s vacant, you will now be faced with an additional $7000 of tax to pay, in addition to your regular property taxes.
The new tax will come into effect on January 1, 2022.
While this new tax is currently only planned for Toronto, be aware that Mississauga and other municipalities are also looking at the feasibility of adding such a tax, in their endless quest for more money.
Sept 30 – New Federal Holiday
The Federal government has announced that September 30th will be a new annual statutory holiday, called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This new holiday only applies to federally regulated employers, which include the banks. The new holiday does not apply to provincially regulated employers such as the Land Registry office of Ontario, but it does introduce a few last minute complications if you have a real estate deal closing on Sept 30 this year.
While lawyer’s offices are expected to remain open, it’s likely that banks and other lenders will need to advance funds early so that real estate deals are able to close properly. This year, Sept 30 falls on a Thursday, and the end of any month is typically a popular day for closings.
Rental Market Strengthening
With vaccination rates up and Ontario businesses almost fully re-opened, the shift back to living in the downtown core has begun. Q2 figures show condo rentals are seeing increased demand. If trends continue the good rental deals that many tenants were able to lock in over the last year may be a thing of the past.
We expect that when immigration into the GTA returns, and when international students are once again allowed back into Canada, you will see this trend accelerate. The dip in rental prices that occurred last year is essentially over, and we are actually seeing rental bidding wars on many properties.
Interest Rates expected to Stay the Same
The Bank of Canada has held its Bank Rate at ½ percent and the deposit rate at ¼ percent, and it is continuing with its quantitative easing program (i.e. printing more money).
Most of the world’s economies are following the same track, which is based upon a belief that there will be a solid recovery from the Covid pandemic. World stock markets have remained bullish, and economists are expecting a strong pickup in the second half of this year.
All this of course is dependent on us not lapsing into yet another wave of Covid related problems. As I write this, there is a spike in the pandemic occurring in the U.S., parts of Europe, Japan, and Australia. Let’s hope that our high vaccination rates here in Canada protect us from falling back into lockdown. Whether the economy recovers, or whether we go back into lockdown, interest rates should remain low for the foreseeable future.
Right now, here are some typical actual mortgage rates that are available today (you still have to qualify at the Stress Test higher level of 5.25%):
5 year closed variable 1.35% High Ratio (i.e. less than 20% down payment)
5 year closed 1.99% High Ratio
5 year variable 1.35% Low Ratio (more than 20% down payment)
5 year closed 2.29% Low Ratio
Hope your summer has been a good one so far, and I wish you a very happy, safe, and prosperous August!
Randy Selzer, salesperson, Sutton Group-Summit Realty Inc., brokerage, independently owned and operated, 416.433.3556 direct 905.897.9555-office
Beyond Boxes: Packing Materials You May Need for your Move
As you probably know, when you’re preparing to move, you’ll need boxes and tape — and, perhaps some bubble-wrap or old newspapers to use as protective wrapping for delicate items.
But that may not be all you need. Take a look at this list and see if you want to have any of these on hand while you’re packing or on your moving day:
- Colour markers for labelling boxes. (Tip: Colour coding boxes by room will make unpacking much easier.)
- Stretch wrap to protect larger items that can’t fit into a box.
- Small plastic bags to store disassembled parts, such as sofa legs, cabinet hardware, etc. (You don’t want to lose them!)
- Moving blankets to protect floors.
- A dolly or hand truck to move heavy items. (You can rent these.)
- Mattress moving bags. These help prevent stains and tears during your move. You can also buy specialty bags for sofas and tables.
- Reusable foam furniture sliders, to protect floors when furniture needs to be pushed into place.
- Foam corner protectors. These prevent furniture with sharp corners from banging and damaging other items during a move.
Planning ahead and having the right packing and moving materials on hand will make your move less stressful and, hopefully, damage-free!
Pricing Your Home Correctly
Setting the right list price for a home is a mystery for many sellers. How do you begin to determine what buyers are likely to pay for your property? After all, no two homes are exactly alike.
Setting the right price is crucial. You need to avoid the two price “tipping points” that, if crossed, can cause you a lot of problems. The first tipping point is a price that’s low enough for buyers to begin thinking something is wrong. They wonder, “Why is your price so low? What are you not telling us about your property?” But that’s not even the worst problem with this tipping point. If you do get offers at that low price, you’ll have a bigger issue – leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
The other tipping point is setting your price so high it discourages buyers from giving your listing a second look. When your price is that high, you’ll get few enquiries and even fewer people coming to see your property.
Of course, you can lower your price later, if necessary. But experience shows that reduced prices make potential buyers skeptical. Most sellers who price high in the hopes of getting a windfall, actually end up selling for much less than they would have had they priced their properties correctly in the first place.
So, what’s the right price to list your property? The answer is somewhere in-between those two tipping points.
Call today for help determining the right price for your property.
Preventing Fires in the Kitchen
The most recent research tells us: Never leave cooking food unattended. Doing so is the number one cause of kitchen fires.Make sure cooking appliances, especially deep fryers, are safety certified by the appropriate government agency.
When using oil in a frying pan, always heat slowly at no more than a medium heat setting.
Always turn off stove burners and other cooking appliances immediately after cooking.
Never attempt to put out a grease fire with water. Use baking soda or a fire extinguisher.
Never remove or cover up a smoke detector due to nuisance alarms. The one alarm that isn’t a nuisance may save your life.
Finally, experts say that if you can’t put out a fire immediately, get everyone out of the home and call emergency services.
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