Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from July, 2011

Greater Toronto REALTORS® Release Mid-July Resale Market Figures

Toronto, July 18, 2011 – During the first 14 days of July, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported an increase in sales and the average selling price compared to the first two weeks of July 2010. The number of sales through the TorontoMLS® system was up 35 per cent to 3,609, compared to 2,672 last year. “Low mortgage rates, rising incomes and good news on the jobs front have kept consumers confident in purchasing a home in the Greater Toronto Area. In fact, home buyers are much more confident than they were this time last year when concerns around the HST, interest rate hikes and new mortgage lending rules had temporarily put a damper on home sales,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Richard Silver. Tight market conditions in the GTA drove a strong rate of price growth through the first two weeks July. The average selling price was $464,277 – up 9.6 per cent compared to the average of $423,773 in July 2010. “Enhanced competition between home buyers continued to drive strong p

Federal EcoEnergy Retrofit Program Renewed

July 13, 2011 -- The federal government has renewed the ecoEnergy Retrofit – Homes Program, which provides grants of up to $5,000 to eligible homeowners to make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes. Details The renewed program is effective from June 6, 2011 until March 31, 2012. Homeowners who participated in the previous version of the program before April 1, 2011, and who did not receive the maximum amount of $5,000 can submit another application for improvements purchased and installed after June 6, 2011. There are two important changes to the program. First, there is a requirement for participants to register directly with the program before booking their evaluation. Second, homeowners will now be required to provide receipts to their energy advisor at the time of the post-retrofit evaluation to confirm eligibility for the grant. More Information / How to Apply Detailed information on the federal ecoEnergy Retrofit – Homes Program, including the application process, is availa

TREB Latest Response to Competition Commissioner - TREB Holds Firm in Order to Protect Consumers

NEWS RELEASE***** Toronto, July 8, 2011 – The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) today responded to more legal and publicity manoeuvres by the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau. “The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to make changes to TREB's own property listing system (MLS®) that TREB believes would violate consumer privacy laws, reduce the quality of the system, and diminish protection for consumers who list their homes in the Greater Toronto real estate market,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. TREB believes strongly in open competition within a housing market where consumers can be ensured privacy and quality. TREB has recently taken steps to provide secure password-protected websites designed to allow consumers to search and display MLS® listing data. The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to go further to release private data about individual consumers openly on the internet. TREB believes that would be reckless and, in fact, a violation of the law. “T

Greater Toronto REALTORS® release June 2011 Resale Market Figures

Toronto, July 6, 2011 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,230 home sales through the TorontoMLS® system in June 2011 – up 21 per cent compared to June 2010. This number represented the third best June result on record behind 2007 and 2009. The number of transactions during the first six months of 2011 amounted to 48,189 – down by 4.5 per cent compared to the first half of 2010. “The strong June result capped off an interesting first half of 2011,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “The pace of sales was a bit sluggish at the beginning of the year, but rebounded in May and June. Because of the positive affordability picture, home buyers remained confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term.” The average price for June transactions was $476,371 – a 9.5 per cent increase over June 2010. Through the first six months of the year, the average selling price was $467,169 – almost an eight per cent increase compared to the same period