Ontario Real Estate Outlook Remains Strong Heading into Winter Season

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 20, 2016) - Perceptions of real estate markets in Ontario remain strong heading into the winter season as the Ontario Home Ownership Index edges to an all-time high of 131 points, according to new research from the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).

Driving the positive shift in sentiment are perceived improvements in current real estate markets and within the last year. More than half of Ontarians (55%) say the current residential real estate market in their neighbourhood is favourable, up 5 points from a year ago. Half of Ontarians (51%) say that the residential real estate market in their city or town is stronger than it was a year ago, up 11 points from a year ago.

"According to the results, it is likely that perceptions of strengthening markets will continue in Ontario into the foreseeable future," said Tim Hudak, Chief Executive Officer, OREA. "Despite rising house prices in the GTA, buyers remain optimistic. In fact, even more Ontarians than last year say they intend to buy in the future. This speaks to the value of home ownership and the timelessness of this all-important commodity."

More than four-in-ten (43%) Ontarians say their city's real estate market will be stronger in the next year, up 5 points from a year ago. Furthermore, 14% of Ontarians say that they are very likely to purchase a home in the next two years, up 3 points from a year ago. Fifteen per cent of Ontarians say they are very likely to sell a home within the next 2 years, up 4 points from a year ago.

Home Hunting in Ontario

Among those who are at least somewhat likely to be buying a home in the next two years, detached homes remain the most popular housing choice (49%), up 13 points from a year ago. Interestingly, interest in condos (19%) has declined by 7 points year over year, while interest in semi-detached homes (19%) has ticked upwards (4 points). The least popular type of home among prospective buyers is row homes or townhomes (14%, down 2 points).

Majority of First-Time Home Buyers Think they will be Impacted by New Stress Test Rules
Eight-in-ten (79%) first-time home buyers in Ontario believe that at some point the new federal government rules about mortgage stress* testing will impact them. Thinking about how the new rules could impact them, 45% of first-time home buyers say they will need to keep saving for a 20% down payment before buying a home; 27% believe they will need to find additional money to increase their down payment, and many say they will need to look for a less expensive home either in the same city (34%) or a different city (22%).

* As of October 17th, 2016, the Federal Government of Canada requires prospective home buyers with less than 20% down-payment to pass a mortgage-rate "Stress Test" to ensure they will still be able to make their mortgage payments in the event mortgage rates go up in the future (about 2% above the current rates).

About The Ontario Home Ownership Index

The Ontario Home Ownership Index is designed to reflect Ontarians' overall views of the residential real estate market in Ontario, and incorporates measures such as Ontarians' perceptions of whether the market in their neighbourhood, city, and Ontario, respectively, have improved or worsened in the last year and looking ahead into the future, whether home ownership is important to them and whether it is a good investment in the long-term. The first wave of the index, conducted in the fall 2013, was set to a baseline of 100 points.

About the Ontario Real Estate Association

The Ontario Real Estate Association represents 67,800 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 40 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety of professional publications, educational programs, advocacy, and other services. www.OREA.com

Property assessments are a taxation 'red herring' in a hot real estate market

Whenever I see media stories about the hot real estate market in Hamilton, there will also be the inevitable comments about property taxes going up because house values are going up. 

So, with [CBC reporting that Hamilton home prices have risen 25% in the last year], I was not surprised to read the following comment:

"Can't wait for the Provincial Assessments for property taxes . Should be interesting"

This comment seems to allude to the provincially-mandated MPAC that does property assessments for property tax purposes, largely based on market value data from real estate sales.  But how much do we have to worry about property values affecting our property taxes?  

The short answer is: a bit, but not necessarily as much as you might think.  

As I explained in [a previous blog post], property value increases don't necessarily equate to property tax increases. You can read the more complete explanation there, but in a nutshell, this is because property taxes are set only partly on property values and are also affected by the actual financial need of the city as set out in the budget at city hall. 

Even if property values across the city didn't change at all, your taxes will still go up if the city budget increases.  Or if property values went up evenly across the city and the budget stayed the same, you'd essentially have no tax increase because the city budget gets spread proportionally across properties according to weighted property value.

The hot real estate market does indeed present certain challenges to home ownership, but it doesn't necessarily mean your taxes will go up.  The issue is complicated because your specific neighbourhood might see less of a value increase than another part of the city.  This might result in a minimal increase for you compared to properties in that higher-appreciation area.  The real question is how is your house value doing in comparison to the city average?

To further complicate matters, commercial and industrial properties also get taxed at a higher rate. As such, seeing an increase in commercial and industrial values and new development is likely significantly more important to reducing the residential property tax burden as having a slower residential real estate market would be.

And of course the other place where taxes can be controlled is in the city's planning and budgeting since any money they spend on anything at all has to come from somewhere.  Some of that comes from user fees for services, but the lion's share comes from property tax revenue.

Unfortunately, we all know the saying about death and taxes, so it's a pretty safe bet that taxes will go up.  But it's not as simple as blaming the 'hot hot hot' real estate market.

November 2016 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2016) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 2,788 units in November compared to 2,868 units in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts was down due to fewer multi-unit housing starts in November 2016 compared to the previous month. The trend in single-detached starts remained practically unchanged in November," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "The trend for townhouse starts declined slightly in November following a spike in the previous month. Despite the decline, the trend for townhouse starts was nearly double what it had been at the beginning of the year, reflecting strong first-time buyer demand."

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 1,868 units in November, down from 3,207 units in October. Similar to the trend measure, the November decrease in the SAAR measure was entirely due to fewer multi-unit housing starts compared to the previous month.

Record Sales for the Month of November

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,323 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in November. Sales were 5.6 per cent higher than the same month last year - which had the record for November sales – and set a new high for the month of November.

[Click here] to read the full release (PDF)

Just how accurate is that statistic?

Most real estate professionals doing business in Hamilton could tell you the listing inventory is too low for the demand just based on anecdotal evidence - we're all running into the non-stop bidding wars with our buyer clients.

But just how bad is it?

Unfortunately, we don't really know an exact answer to that.

Yesterday I shared the local real estate association's monthly press release, and we read that October was a record-breaking month for sales.  Demand is definitely up.  But then we also read that listing inventory at the end of October was only a third of what it was the same time last year.

"Whoah!"

The only problem is that the listing inventory statistic from the local real estate association only takes into consideration listings in the local MLS® database. Meaning agents who are members of this association. I confirmed this with them after the drop reported last month, so I am less in awe of this month's even more dramatic decline.

In the past, counting only local listings was sufficient because almost all listings were taken by local agents and companies.  The impact of out-of-town agents was minimal.  But just as professionals on the street can tell by experience that listing inventory is down, we also know that there has been an influx of agents from out of town taking listings in Hamilton - some of them from Toronto, and some of them from closer outlying areas.  We've seen the yard signs. 

This is due in part to Hamilton's hot market naturally attracting investors and agents from further afield.  But there was another behind-the-scenes shift that has helped to facilitate this: over the last year and a bit, the local real estate association has been transitioning to a regional MLS® database shared with seven other real estate associations.  The local association's official 'jurisdiction'  covers a pretty wide area - all the way from Burlington to Dunnville - so there are really several sub-markets within our association's data, not just Hamilton.  The shared database has made it easier for agents to cross the traditional jurisdictional lines into our area, and many have. 

While I don't have a strong objection to this, it does wreak havoc on our statistics which are based on old models from before a shared database or wider interest in our market.  We can look at our listing inventory at the end of October and we're rightly shocked that it is a third of what it was last year.  But - and this is a big but - how many more listings are available in Hamilton but not counted in that number because they are not listed with a Hamilton agent or company?  I'm sad to say I don't have an immediate answer for that.  I could find out fairly easily about extra listings from the seven regional associations, but adding in listings from Toronto agents is more difficult.

So what does all of this mean for you?  In a way, not much.  If you're looking to sell a home, we know it's a strong sellers' market whether listing inventory is 33% of last year's or 66% or whatever.  You'll be looking at recent sales in the open market to price your home, and that doesn't really change.  And as a buyer, you'll want to stay cool and rational, making decisions based on your needs and actual market sales data.  In the end you don't care how many houses or buyers are out there as long as you find the one you need.

Having said that, I'm hoping we'll be able to sort out this inaccuracy in statistical reporting as the regional system settles in.  In the meantime, 'stay calm and carry on' as they say, and don't get too excited about stats.

And if you are thinking about buying or selling real estate in the Hamilton area, please give me a call or email.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or discuss your plans and needs.

OCTOBER SALES STRONG; INVENTORY REMAINS LOW

November 3, 2016 (Hamilton, Ontario) - The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,418 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in October. Sales were 0.3 per cent higher than the same month last year, and broke the monthly sales record for October, set just last year.

[CLICK HERE] to read the full report in PDF format

Low Inventory Continues for September

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,317 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in September. Sales were 4.7 per cent lower than the same month last year.

There were 1,940 properties listed in September, a decrease of 9.5 per cent compared to September of last year.

“The sales numbers are lower than last September’s, but the hot real estate market in the Greater Hamilton-Burlington area continues,” said RAHB CEO George O’Neill. “Sales are 16 per cent higher than the 10-year average, while the end of month inventory is 39.5 per cent lower than a year ago. The Hamilton-Burlington area continues to attract many people looking for a great place to live and work.”

[CLICK HERE] to read the full report, with sales data charts.

Red tape costs homebuilders twice as much in Toronto than Hamilton

TORONTO—The cost of complying with residential development regulations in Toronto is more than twice as expensive than in Hamilton, according to a survey of homebuilders released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

The New Homes and Red Tape in Ontario: Residential Land-Use Regulation in the Greater Golden Horseshoe finds that typical compliance costs were $46,569 per unit of new housing in Toronto compared to $20,961 in Hamilton.

In Oakville, one of the most regulated municipalities in the region, the cost is more than $60,000.

“Costly and confusing regulations, long approval times, rezoning delays, and overall uncertainty for developers both increases the costs and impedes new homes from being built throughout the Golden Horseshoe,” said Kenneth Green, a senior research director at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the study.

The red tape ranking, which includes survey data from 2014 and 2016, compares municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe on the length and uncertainty of construction approval times, regulatory costs and fees, rezoning prevalence and level of opposition to development.

Toronto ranked 20th out of 23 municipalities, ahead of only Oakville, Ajax and King Township.

Toronto earned low marks in the survey for having the highest opposition to new housing development from city council and community groups and for requiring nearly 70 per cent of all new residential development property to be rezoned.

In Toronto’s case, the rezoning process takes more than seven months (on average) to complete—nearly double the region’s average of four months.

“If city councils in the Golden Horseshoe really want to increase the supply of housing and lower prices, they should consider more sound regulatory regimes that encourage, not stifle, residential development,” Green said.

*Greater Golden Horseshoe municipalities (least regulated at the top):

Burlington
Hamilton
Milton
Brampton
Uxbridge
Whitby
East Gwillimbury
Markham
Vaughan
Newmarket
Halton Hills
Oshawa
Bradford West Gwillimbury
Mississauga
Pickering
Whitchurch-Stouffville
Caledon
Richmond Hill
Aurora
Toronto
Oakville
Ajax
King Township


*This aggregate index only includes municipalities that garnered sufficient numbers of survey responses.

(Source: Fraser Institute news release)

RECORD SALES FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,409 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in August. Sales were 9.2 per cent higher than the same month last year, and set a new record for sales in the month of August.

[Click here to read the full report (PDF)]

More Changes to Mortgage Qualification on the Horizon?

“Given the current economic environment in Canada, with record levels of household indebtedness and growing risks and vulnerabilities in some housing markets, OSFI’s supervisory scrutiny in the area of mortgage underwriting will continue.” This was included in Reinforcing Prudent Residential Mortgage Risk Management published early July by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).

The purpose of this nice and tidy piece of government correspondence is to inform the public that OSFI will be upping their game, paying closer attention to mortgage underwriting policies. And although no hard and fast rule changes were announced, an announcement of “hey, we are paying really close attention here” is typically not made unless there has been at least some thought about what the next steps might be (if required).

So let’s take a look at some of the potential changes the government could make to mortgage qualification.

Qualifying All Terms at the Benchmark Rate

As it stands right now, variable rate mortgages and fixed rate mortgages with terms of less than five years are qualified using the benchmark rate. The benchmark rate is set higher than the actual contract rate and is used to “stress test” mortgage applications.

In our current low interest rate environment, many Canadians see the five year fixed mortgage as a good choice simply because it qualifies using the contract rate instead of the benchmark rate. This means using the five year rate, borrowers can qualify for a lot more house compared to a shorter fixed term or variable rate mortgage.

Forcing all mortgages to be qualified at the benchmark rate could be on the horizon and would most likely lessen the appeal of the five year fixed rate.

Increasing the Benchmark Rate

If the goal is to tighten mortgage qualification, a simple way to do that would be to increase the benchmark slowly but surely. The higher the qualifying rate, the less you qualify for. Plain and simple. However as this might have other economic ramifications, we’ll just have to wait and see if this is in the government playbook.

Lower Debt Service Ratios

In order to qualify for a mortgage, you take your principal, interest, taxes, and heat and divide by your annual income, this is called your gross debt service ratio or GDS. When you add your other debt obligations to this calculation, it becomes your total debt service ratio or TDS.

Currently, for insured mortgages in Canada, your maximum GDS is limited to 39% while your TDS is capped at 42%.

A simple tweak to these numbers would have a pretty significant impact.

A Flat 10% Down Payment

If you remember, back in February of 2016, the government increased the minimum down payment amount. When purchasing a property, the first $500,000 requires a minimum of 5% down, whereas the portion of the purchase price above $500,000 now requires a 10% down payment.

Seeing as though the government just made these changes, it doesn’t seem likely that they would scrap them and simply introduce a flat 10% downpayment across the board, but you never know!

Regardless of what future changes are made to mortgage qualifications (if any) to address “our current economic environment”, you can count on us to make sure you are kept in the know.

If you need anything, please let us know, we’d love to hear from you!

Today's post courtesy of:

[Marianne Hobson]
Mortgage Agent Lic#M08004925
Dominion Lending Centres Homestead Financial (Lic#11711)

Intentions to Buy and Sell Real Estate Increase Among Ontario's Gen Y Population, Research Shows

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - August 03, 2016) - More of Ontario's younger generations are likely to buy a home in the next two years, shows new research from the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). According to OREA's Ontario Home Ownership Index, one in four (24%) generation Ys(1) said they are likely to purchase a home in the next two years (up eight points from last year), while 18% of generation X said the same (a six-point increase from a year ago).

In terms of their preferred housing type, half of gen Y respondents said they are likely to purchase a detached house (51%), followed by 'condo/apartment' (28%), 'semi-detached house' (18%) and 'row-house/townhouse' (13%). Similarly, the majority of gen X respondents selected 'detached house' (63%) as the housing type they are most likely to buy. Semi-detached houses were the second most popular choice (26%), followed by 'condo/apartment' and 'row house/townhouse' (each at 17%).

"Based on their intentions to buy, and the kind of real estate they're looking at, it is evident that 'stage-of-life' is a motivating factor for gen Y," says Ray Ferris, president of OREA. "Also, given the strength of real estate markets lately, it is understandable that a growing number of millennials would like to own a home and why so many believe real estate is a good investment."

'Desire to own a home of my own' (38%) is gen Y's main motivator for purchasing a home in the next two years, followed by the 'desire for a larger home' (28%). 'Long-term investment value' made it in the top three for both gen Y and X, but for the latter group it was the biggest driver (35% compared to 28% for gen Y). For gen X, 'desire to own a home of my own' (28%) and 'change in family situation' (26%) made it into the list of top three reasons for buying a home.

Furthermore, a larger number of Ontario's younger generations (X and Y) agree that real estate is a good investment -- 81% of gen X and 77% of gen Y said it is a good investment, compared to 72% and 70% who said so last year. Moreover, the perception gap is narrowing between generations, as 85% of baby boomers admit to real estate being a good investment.

"This uptick in consumer confidence is likely driven by the very strong gains we've seen in home values in the last year," says Ferris. "For those gen Ys and Xs who plan to sell, they will surely experience those gains themselves."

One in four gen Ys (25%) say they are likely to sell their home in the next two years (up 15 points from one year ago), and 15% of gen X plans to do so (up eight points). In comparison, 12% of baby boomers (up only three points from the previous year) say they are likely to sell their homes within the next two years.

Methodology
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 31 and June 2, 2016, on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). For this survey, a sample of 1,006 Ontarians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontario adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About The Ontario Home Ownership Index
The Ontario Home Ownership Index is designed to reflect Ontarians' overall views of the residential real estate market in Ontario, and incorporates measures such as Ontarians' perceptions of whether the market in their neighbourhood, city, and Ontario, respectively, have improved or worsened in the last year and looking ahead into the future, whether home ownership is important to them and whether it is a good investment in the long-term. The first wave of the index, conducted in the fall 2013, was set to a baseline of 100 points.

About the Ontario Real Estate Association
The Ontario Real Estate Association represents over 64,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 40 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety of professional publications, educational programs, advocacy, and other services. www.OREA.com

(1) For the purposes of this study, Generation X is defined as being 'born 1965-1980'; Generation Y, born 1981-1995.

Every house has its little quirks - what's your house's?

When you spend time living in a house, you tend to personalize it in hundreds of little ways.  And just like we all have our little quirks, the houses we live in will develop their own little quirks as well. 

Sometimes they are of our own making, and sometimes they are from previous owners. When they are left by someone else, it can leave you scratching your head as to what they were thinking.  I get to see lots of this as I look at houses with my buyer clients.

It might be a light switch or electrical socket in an odd location, an unexpected hidden storage compartment, or something else.  Let me know in the comments below what funny little quirks your house has.

May 2016 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 8, 2016) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,532 units in May compared to 2,544 units in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts was practically unchanged as gains in other dwelling types offset the decline in apartment starts. The trend in townhouses was particularly strong in May, reaching its highest level since December 2014," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "Strong first-time homebuyer demand continued to support townhouse construction, as these types of dwellings are considered relatively more affordable in Hamilton."

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 2,357 units in May, up from 2,030 units in April. May's increase in the SAAR measure was mostly due to a higher number of townhouse starts compared to April.

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

When will I actually get the keys?

You've bought your next house and you're excited because the big day is coming.  But now you have to plan and coordinate the move.  And of course, one of the most usual questions is: when will I actually get the keys for the new place?

This can vary a bit, depending on a number of factors.  In my experience, the transaction often closes by noon and you can get your keys.  The lawyers typically have everything all set to go a couple days before closing, so it's usually a relatively smooth process.  Of course, surprises do sometimes pop up that need to be dealt with on the fly, but these are usually addressed by the title search date.

And even if there are no problems, the closing is dependent on the lawyer receiving the money from your mortgage company.  Some lenders are better at being prompt than others.  Or if you're selling as well as buying, and you require the proceeds of the sale toward the purchase, then the lawyer could be held up waiting for your sale to close before closing your purchase.  Which also could be held up by the other buyer's mortgage lender, among other things.

The standard wording in the Ontario Real Estate Association's Agreement of Purchase and Sale requires the deal to close "no later than 6:00pm".  So, while you will often have the keys earlier in the day, it's safest to be prepared to wait until the end of the business day, around 4:30 or 5:00pm.  I have occasionally seen them squeak through that late.  You just hope it doesn't get held over to the next day... I've never had it happen to any of my clients, but it's not impossible.

New Record Set for Month of March

(April 6, 2016 – Hamilton, Ontario)  The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,482 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in March, a new record for the month.  Sales were 6.8 per cent higher than the same month last year and 15.2 per cent higher than the 10-year average. 

[Click here for the full report]

March 2016 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up at 2,887 units in March compared to 2,537 units in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts. 

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts increased primarily due to a higher number of apartment starts in March compared to the previous month," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "The trend in townhouse starts also increased in March. Strong first time homebuyer demand continued to support townhouse construction in Hamilton." 

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 3,945 units in March, up from 2,713 units in February. This month's increase in the SAAR measure was mostly due to a higher number of multi-unit housing starts compared to February. 

Sell smart and stay safe

I've posted before about [Selling real estate and personal safety] and it's something worth thinking about every once in a while.  Particularly for professionals, but also for anyone thinking about selling their property on their own.  You'll have complete strangers into your home, out of public view. It poses some very real risk because there are dangerous people out there.

Personal safety is enough of an issue for real estate agents that there are guidebooks available from the real estate associations to help us work safely.  Obviously, the usual concern is for female agents, but as you'll see in the news articles linked from in the previous blog entry mentioned above, men are not immune to physical attacks either.

I got thinking about this again as the REALTORS® Assocation of Hamilton-Burlington issued the following warning to its members:

Dear Members,

Please Be Advised that there is Suspicious Buyer saying he sold his home in BC for over one Million Dollars and now he needs to see homes right away in the Hamilton area and will pay cash.

He asking if the Realtor if she will be by herself at the showings and when one of our Realtors said she would be with someone else he didn't respond when the viewings were confirmed.

This Buyer is going by the name Harvey but obviously he could change his name.

Please don't show any homes to strangers you haven't met first , preferably at one of our offices and please have someone else with you for showings if you do not know the individual.

Please work safe. 
 

This person may or may not be a predator, but they're out there.  And they know how to present themselves in attract terms and manipulate potential victims.  Keep your wits about you and stay safe. Hiring a real estate professional to handle buyer inquiries and showings is by far your best bet for personal safety, but if you do intend to sell privately, make sure you give some thought to how you're going about it.

It’s All About Inventory

The REALTORS^® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,131 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) System in February, with an average sale price of $463,234. There were 1,527 properties listed in February, an increase of 7.3 per cent compared to February of last year, but 9.8 per cent lower than the 10-year average.  

[Click here] to read the full report.

Seller's Market to Continue in 2016

(January 29, 2016 - Hamilton, Ontario) The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) expects to see much the same real estate market in 2016 as in 2015.

'Continued low interest rates, a favourable employment outlook and a continuing low inflation rate bode well for the real estate market," said RAHB CEO George O'Neill.  'The same factors that contributed to the strong market over the past few years should continue to have a positive influence in the coming year."

The high cost of housing in the GTA will continue to drive first-time buyers and young families out of the GTA, and the Hamilton-Burlington market continues to offer attractive alternatives for home buyers.  With expanded GO service throughout the region, it will be easier to work in Toronto and live in communities south-west.  A strong culture supporting entrepreneurs has also proven to attract new residents to the area.

The new mortgage rules coming into effect next month will have a small impact on some of the more expensive areas of the market, but the graduated nature of the new down payment requirements is expected to minimize this impact for most of the Hamilton-Burlington market.

For the coming year, RAHB expects to see 20,000 residential listings, 15,000 residential sales and an increase in average sale price of about four per cent.  The sellers' market will continue.

Results from 2015 show that all property types listings and overall sales increased over the previous year, with the average sale price up by 8.3 per cent.  Total dollar volume from the sale of all property types was $7.378 billion, a 20 per cent increase over 2014. 

The residential market saw similar increases over the previous year, with new listings up by 6.1 per cent, sales up by 11 per cent and the average sale price up 8.9 per cent over 2014.  Average days on market dropped from 39 to 34 days in 2015. 

The strong seller's market from 2014 continued throughout 2015, with all-time sales records broken in April, then again in May and again in June.  Five monthly sales records were broken through the last months of the year.

While the average sale price of residential listings showed an 8.9 per cent increase over 2014, the average remained relatively stable throughout 2015.

'We saw a jump in average sale price early in the year, and since then the average price has been pretty constant.  It looked as though we kept seeing big increases every month, but that was only in comparison to the previous year," noted O'Neill.  'There's no doubt we've seen an increase over last year, but we didn't see big changes from month to month throughout the year."

O'Neill cautioned home sellers and buyers about using the RAHB average sale price as an indicator of the price of their own home or one to purchase.  'Every neighbourhood in RAHB's market area is different," said O'Neill, 'and each has its own characteristics and influences on price.  I highly recommend  buyers and sellers use the services of a local professional - a RAHB REALTOR® - when they are buying or selling a home."

Some common minor issues found in home inspections

When you're buying a home and having a professional inspection, you're definitely looking for any major issues that come up.  Leaky roofs, damp basements, structural issues are all things you hope not to find.  But between changing standards over time, wear and tear, and the occasional DIY errors there will almost never be a home inspection report that comes back with nothing at all identified as wrong.  Here are some pretty common items in home inspection reports that are usually not very big problems to fix:
  
Reverse polarity on electrical outlets
 
Most home inspectors have a handy little tool with lights that they stick into electrical sockets to test them.  The two things they are look for are grounding and polarity.
 
It is not uncommon at all to find some electrical outlets with "reverse polarity".  In many cases, it is probably a simple mistake by whoever was wiring the electrical outlet.  The "hot" and "neutral" wires are simply placed on the wrong terminals.
 
Alternating current found in electrical outlets is a form of electrical transmission where the current moves first in one direction and then in the other - this is why it is called alternating current (AC).  Simple electrical devices like lamps and fans will not really notice the difference because the current is simple moving back and forth.  As a result, polarity was not always top concern for electricians or homeowners wiring an outlet.  However, many modern equipment, and electronic devices in particular, like to have the cycle of the electrical current properly timed.  Reverse polarity can cause damage to this equipment, potentially creating a fire or shock hazard, so it is worthwhile to get these outlets fixed.
 
Fortunately, it is usually a simple matter of having the two wires switched to their proper terminals. As long as there are no other issues and there is a proper length of wire in the outlet box, a qualified electrical contractor should be able to fix this in a matter of minutes.
 
Railings loose or missing
  

This one is pretty self-explanatory.  Anywhere that you have stairs, you should have a handrail that can support you.  Often we find railings in homes that have come loose and would not support your weight at all if you lost your balance and had to depend on it to catch yourself.  These should be securely re-attached to the structure of the home, whether that is the wall or steps.  And of course, if there is no railing at all on a staircase, the inspector is bound to identify this as a deficiency that should be corrected.
 
Breaker panel knockout covers missing
 

Another electrical issue that is a pretty simple fix.  On breaker panels, there are knock-out covers that you remove to leave an opening for the breaker.  Sometimes, whether because the wrong ones were knocked out, some got knocked out by accident, or panel configuration has changed, you will have some of these covers missing where there is no breaker.  This leaves an opening into the panel.  Really, it's not particularly dangerous unless you stick your fingers blindly into the hole, but technically this is a safety hazard.  And it is so easy to fix, there's little reason not to. Filler plates are available in varying styles from most hardware stores for a couple dollars, or an electrical contractor should be able to provide them easily.  They just pop in to the space to fill it. Voila, no more open hole.

Downspouts going to weeping tiles
 

This one is a relatively common issue with a simple fix, but can have some more serious repercussions if left unremediated.  It was common practice many years ago to take downspouts from the eavestroughs below ground to the weeping tiles.

Weeping tiles are a system of pipes around the bottom of the foundation designed to take any ground water near the foundation out to the municipal drainage system.  The problem is that the old weeping tiles were most often made of clay and can break down over years of use.  When this happens, if you get a heavy rainfall and water being put into those pipes, you can end up with water seeping into the basement.  There has been a return to this practice in modern new construction because the weeping tiles are made of plastic and thus more or less impervious to the kind of breakdown clay pipe is susceptible to (although last I checked, Hamilton's by-laws prohibit this practice to reduce water flow through an aging drain system). 

So, while the weeping tiles may still be doing the job or getting the water away from the house, most home inspectors will advise disconnecting the downspout, closing off the pipe going down to the weeping tiles, and directing the downspout out and away from the house.  While this is sometimes tricky depending on placement of the downspout and obstacles or walkways, it's basically a matter of cutting off the downspout and using downspout piping available from most hardware stores

You don't even know what you don't know

It's not easy being in real estate. It's a very competitive business and there's no guarantee you'll make any money.  Many don't make it past a couple years in the business. 

And of course before you get started, you have to finish the education.  Well, actually you never finish the education because there is a constant continuing education program that you have to do before your license renewal every two years. 

There's more to know than you realize.  You're looking at real estate courses to learn about contracts, disclosure requirements, agency law, and all the various rules and regulations around the business. 

And when you finish all the courses, you'll still have a lot more to learn - from municipal by-laws that affect property ownership and development to ongoing changes with provincial and federal policies and programs in place.  It's a steep learning curve and initially you don't even know what you don't know.

That is one of the reasons that selling a property on your own can be a difficult experience. You don't even know what you don't know. 

Here's just one example:  you drive around Hamilton and you see certain for-sale-by-owner directional signs at the corner of intersections all over the city basically saying "house for sale this way."  You see far more of these than you see for real estate agents.  Do you think that means those particular companies are doing more business than traditional real estate agents? Taking a big chunk of the market? 

You'd be tempted to think that.  But actually, no.  The reason you don't see many of those signs for real estate agents is because they are illegal in Hamilton.  Yea, you read that right.  They're not allowed.

Open house directional signs are permitted but only on the day of an open house, but For Sale directional signs are prohibited by the City of Hamilton's sign by-law. 

Most local real estate agents know this and don't use them.  But when you're selling your house on your own, you get them as part of a generic package with some companies and of course you want to use them.  I really can't say whether those companies give the private sellers any warning about local rules, but we do know we see the signs around. 

Here's the big problem with that.  You're the one selling your house and you put the sign up.  If Hamilton's Municipal Law Enforcement comes knocking, it's YOU that could be paying a fine.  Do you know how much that fine is?  Is it a single fine or per sign?

So maybe you should ask yourself, what else don't you know?

December 2015 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,525 units in December compared to 2,591 units in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts decreased slightly in December 2015, reflecting lower level of single-detached housing starts compared to the previous month," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "Overall, economic and demographic factors remain supportive of housing demand. The decline in new home construction in 2015 reflects inventory management by builders."

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 2,193 units in December, down from 2,431 units in November. December's decline in the SAAR measure was primarily due to fewer apartment starts compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, townhouse starts were up and partially offsetting the decline in apartment starts.
 
As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.