Real eState

Real estate offices handling essential sales during outbreak – Sarnia Observer

Published

5 years ago

April 8, 2020

Real estate agents in the Sarnia area are still working, but it’s not business as usual.

President Donna Mathewson is shown in this file photo standing in a meeting room at the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board office.

File photo / The Observer

Real estate agents in the Sarnia area are still working, but it’s not business as usual.

Donna Mathewson, president of the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board, said she felt it was important to let the public know what the real estate industry has been asked to do during the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We’re been deemed to be an essential service” to assist with “essential purchases or sales,” she said.

That designation came following consultations with the provincial real estate association and the legal community, Mathewson said.

She said examples of essential purchases and sales include court-ordered sales of houses due to separations or divorces, estate sales already in progress, sales related to job loss or transfers, foreclosure and bankruptcy, and finding new homes for buyers who had already sold their current house.

“There are certain things the government has asked us to help facilitate,” Mathewson said.

But because of the restrictions, open houses cannot be held while other ways the industry usually operates have changed.

“We’ve been deemed an essential service, but with limitations,” Mathewson said. “We have been asked to not have any in-person face-to-face contact” while dealing with essential sales, she said.

Luckily, realtors are “well positioned” to be able to use virtual and electronic tools to conduct business, Mathewson said.

“We can do a transaction safely and efficiently, all virtually.”

Mathewson said members of the board want to provide essential services while also protecting themselves and their own families during the outbreak.

“We want to make sure our clients are staying safe,” she added.

But, Mathewson said, “the government has told us it is not to be business as usual.”

The real estate board has approximately 240 members in the Sarnia area.

March sales numbers reported by the real estate board remained strong, with more than $50 million in total sales, up from the same month last year. The year-to-date sales volume was up 17 per cent so far in 2020, with a total of $131 million.

Mathewson said she wasn’t surprised March numbers remained strong, even with the start of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We would expect that impact to be seen more in April,” she said. “Houses were still moving, fairly well, right up until mid-March. That’s kind of when things started to go into lockdown mode.”

During the initial week of restrictions related to the outbreak, sales already underway were pushed along to get them completed, she said.

The Sarnia area has had a “seller’s market” with high demand and low supply of homes for the past three to four years, but Mathewson said she expects to see lower numbers in April because of COVID-19.

“We fully expect that once things can return to whatever a new normal is, we still see our market rebound and we’ll pick up where we left off,” she said.

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Real eState

Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

Published

3 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

Published

4 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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