Thank you for checking out the 2020 year in review on the Muskoka real estate market. We are happy to have a conversation anytime to answer questions, provide more information or give personalized insights into your existing Muskoka property. We encourage you to check out the graphs below for an update on the performance of your investment in the Muskoka waterfront or residential market.
As we are welcoming 2021 we are stopping to briefly reflect and look back on 2020, as it has definitely been a year that will stand out. This year in Muskoka real estate, both on the waterfront and the residential side of the market has never been so active. Throughout the year, COVID has had significant impacts on the market. It is interesting to learn and understand how the demand affected average sale prices, unit sales, days on market and inventory levels in Muskoka. For a complete picture of the Muskoka real estate market for 2020 visit our website.
Residential. Click to enlarge.
Waterfront. Click to enlarge.
Over a 10 year span of being mostly a balanced market in the Muskoka region, the advantage has significantly tipped to the seller through 2020. As reflected on the Sold to Listed ratio graphs. We can see that of the properties listed this year, 90 per cent (shown as 0.9) of residential listings sold, and 84 per cent of the waterfront listings sold, to end 2020 with the highest sellers advantage in the market for over 10 years.
In the past ten years we have seen ups and downs but overall supply is trending downward and demand, or units sold, has been steadily trending upward, this trend is more strongly shown on the waterfront. In our latest year in review posts on our blog we will analyze residential value trends through the main towns of Muskoka and the waterfront properties across the many lakes in the region. Please see below for the link to our website and blog.
Harvey Kalles and the Aben Team are strongly committed to providing the safest environment and following all protocols to protect and respect our clients, and the clients of other realtors buying and selling real estate in Muskoka. The real estate market operation is not business as usual. It is encouraged to use remote work and technology such as virtual showings, electronic signatures and virtual meetings.
Aben Team – Harvey Kalles Real Estate We are specialists in Muskoka real estate and bring our professionalism, experience, and knowledge to every real estate transaction. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home or cottage in Muskoka, we would love to help you with either process. With an office in Huntsville servicing Huntsville/Lake of Bays and an office in Port Carling servicing the Muskoka Lakes, we are prepared to assist you anywhere in Muskoka. Make sure to check out ‘What Makes Us Different’ to find out what sets us apart from the competition when it comes to selling your property, or getting the latest Muskoka market stats to keep you informed on possibly your biggest investment.
2019 Harvey Kalles Diamond Club Award, top 10; 2018 Harvey Kalles Diamond Club Award, top 10; 2017 Royal LePage National Chairman’s Club recipient, top 1% in Canada; 2017 National Chairman’s Club recipient, top 1% in Canada; 2016 Royal LePage Diamond Award recipient, top 3% in Canada; 2016 Diamond Award recipient, top 3% in Canada; 2015 National Chairman’s Club recipient, top 1% in Canada; 2015 Royal LePage National Chairman’s Club recipient, top 1% in Canada; Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist; Senior Real Estate Specialist
JOHN ABEN Broker 705.788.4770 john@abenteam.com
MARK ABEN Broker 705.788.4388 mark@abenteam.com
The Aben Teamis proudly serving customers from two offices for your convenience. Please select a location near you: Huntsville Office: 13 Minerva Street East, Huntsville ON P1H 1P2 Port Carling Office: 1A Lee Valley Drive, Port Carling ON P0B 1J0
“The Aben Team took the time to understand our wants and needs. We knew immediately that John and Mark’s patience, professionalism and firsthand knowledge of Muskoka was the perfect fit to help us with our search. They were instrumental in helping us fulfill our retirement dreams by finding us the perfect home in a wonderful community. Thank you John and Mark for your patience, flexibility and sound advice.”
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
