Tuesday, May 25, 2010







Canada's hot resale housing market starting to cool

OTTAWA - May 17th, 2010 - Home sales activity in Canada came up short of the record for the month of April and new listings continued to climb, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Residential sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards numbered 52,042 units in April 2010. This is less than one per cent short of the record for national sales activity during the month of April, which was set in 2007. Compared to April 2009, national activity was up 20 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity slipped 2.6 per cent from the previous month, and now stands 6.8 per cent below the peak reached in December 2009. More than half of the decline in activity over the first four months of 2010 from in British Columbia, while activity in Ontario and Quebec remains at or near record levels.

"The easing trend in national sales activity masks a rising trend in a number of major markets," said CREA President Georges Pahud. "Real estate is local, so buyers and sellers should engage the services of a REALTOR® for knowledge about housing market trends in their market."

Some 99,901 homes were newly listed for sale on Canadian MLS® Systems in April 2010, surpassing the previous record for the month of April set in 2008 by six-tenths of one per cent. A total of 236,397 residential properties were listed for sale on Boards’ MLS® Systems at the end of April 2010, down 1.9 per cent from levels one year earlier.

As for the national average price of homes sold via Canadian MLS® Systems, that figure rose 12.2 per cent over this time last year. This is a smaller increase compared to those recorded over the past eight months. Bucking the national trend, price gains continue to increase in a number of major markets in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

With last year’s string of downwardly skewed average price values having now mostly passed, and with activity in British Columbia’s lower mainland having settled down, year-over-year national average price comparisons are coming back into line with changes in the national weighted average price.

The weighted average price compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. It climbed 11.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis in April 2010. Similarly, the residential average price in Canada’s major markets climbed 12.9 per cent year-over-year in April, while the weighted major market average price rose 12.1 per cent.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of months of inventory stood at 4.5 months in April 2010. This is down from levels one year ago (5.6 months) and April 2008 (4.7 months), but up compared to April levels from 2004 through 2007. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, months of inventory stood at 5.3 months in April, the highest level since last May.

"Next month will mark the passage of one year since the national average price rebounded from the recessionary trough to return to the pre-recession peak, so the rise in the national average price is expected to be more subdued next month, " said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "The national average price could potentially be skewed higher over the next couple of months if buyers of higher priced homes in Ontario and British Columbia move their purchase decision forward to beat the introduction of the HST in July."

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS® sales information from the previous month. The Canadian Real Estate Association has previously released these separately.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 98,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations. Further information can be found at www.crea.ca.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hand signal to thank the military

This is pretty neat.....(30 second video) ...

Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used and has started a movement to get the word out. Please everybody take just a moment to watch.... The Gratitude Campaign; .......and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN.

CLICK HERE

It's Your Career - I'm here to Support YOU!

Constantine Isslamow

Broker of Record

Century 21United Realty Inc. Brokerage

Independently Owned and Operated

Friends, followers, and connections are the way of the future.


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TELL YOUR LOCAL LIBERAL MPP TO LEAVE THE SPECIAL DIET ALONE AND RAISE THE RATES INSTEAD

Day of Action at Local Members of Provincial Parliament Offices:
Thursday, May 20th

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is challenging the decision to eliminate the Special Diet for people on welfare and disability. We are demanding this vital benefit be left alone and that the Government Raise the Rates now.

Coming out of the momentum of April 15th, we are organizing a series of actions to build up resistance to the attack on the Special Diet between now and the closing of Provincial Legislature in June. This will include a major mobilization at the Provincial Government Buildings on June 17. To ensure that the fight is taken into as many communities as possible, we are calling for a day of actions at local Liberal MPPs' offices on Thursday, May 20.

We leave it up to people to decide the kind of event that is right for them. Some may choose to occupy an office. Some may think it better
to rally outside. Others may want to bring a delegation and call for a meeting. Please let us know what ideas you have for ways to drive this issue home at Liberal offices so we can share them with people in other communities.

Whatever tactic you think is possible and works best for you, we are calling on people across this Province to make May 20 a day when the cut to Special Diet is put before the Liberals in a way they can't ignore.

The loss of the Special Diet means people will not have a healthy diet. Some will be made homeless, many will suffer ill health and lives will be shortened. We don't just want to protest this attack but intend to defeat it.

If you want to be part of this fight back and the May 20th Day of Action, e mail us at ocap@tao.ca or call us at (416) 925-6939

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Using Market Trends to Build Credibility and Trust

We Agents need to understand the current and emerging market trends. We need to understand the economic influences of our region and how that will influence the market place in the future. The skill to evaluate the present against the past in order to forecast the future can separate us from others in the marketplace.

Evaluate the total sales volume and number of sales on a year-to-date basis and against the previous year. This will allow you to see where you have been and where the marketplace is trending.

· Is the number of homes sold going up or down?
· Is the total volume increasing or decreasing?

Evaluate the number of listings taken. Remember that real estate is supply and demand influenced. The amount of inventory is the supply segment of the equation.

· Is the number of homes for sale up or down?
· Do buyers have a greater selection than this time last year?
· Is the number of homes for sale rising or falling compared to this time last year?
· Is the mix of inventory for sale the same in town homes, condos, and single-family residences? Is it the same percentage of the overall market as this time last year?
· Is there more inventory in certain geographic areas than this time last year?

If you track the inventory of homes for sale and sold homes, you will have a great wealth of information.

An example is when; earlier this year I led a coaching call with a client in San Diego who is a Champion Agent in that marketplace. The inventory levels have changed rapidly in that area; the marketplace in San Diego has seen rapid increase in inventory of homes for sale in the last year. That has caused the media, consumers, and even Agents to portray gloom and doom across the marketplace. While the days of the home selling within twenty-four hours of listing, with multiple offers, over-asking price, and with escalator clauses is gone, the marketplace is still a great one.

Champion Rule: When inventory of active listings increases, most people panic.

The average Agent will have a fit when the inventory increases. The reason is that it signals a change in the marketplace. The media will pick up on the inventory increase and start broadcasting the change as gloom and doom or the "bubble bursting." This further increases the consumer's negatively against the real estate marketplace.

When my client and I compared the current numbers against the previous year's numbers, there were some startling facts that were contrary to the gloom and doom prognosticators. Inventory had increased by 68% in his service area. Certainly, the increase in inventory would influence the marketplace. At the current rate of growth of the inventory, the marketplace would eventually have price and value corrections.

The list price to sales price in the marketplace, however, was still solid and respectable against historical standards at 96%. Now, against a marketplace where everything was selling above asking price, it was a change, but against the long-term view, 96% is a good number.

The days on the market average for homes that sold was sixty-one days. What that told me is that a home priced competitively would sell in a reasonable period of time. The truth is sixty-one days is not a long days on the market number.

The sold properties monthly is what really clarified the picture. The sold properties were within a few homes either way each month for the last eighteen months. When the marketplace was explosive, there were about the same amount of sold properties per month as there were right now. The sales had not dropped in his market area.

The net result was that homes were still selling. The sellers were still getting close to their asking price in a reasonable period of time. The key is that the seller could only achieve a sale through being competitive on their price. With the high inventory levels, compared to a year ago, there is more competition but the competition that is there has not position itself competitively via price to win the game. The truth is most of the Agents are doing their Eeyore impression. The media and most consumers are wrong about the marketplace. My client is one of the few in the marketplace who has the correct view of the overall picture.

Evaluate average sales price this year versus last year.

· Is it going up or down?
· Is the marketplace depreciating or appreciating in value? Don't waste your time tracking that on a monthly basis. It is too short a period of time to detect a trend. Calculate this statistic on a quarterly basis.
· Is the inventory aligned with the demands? We need to know if we are experiencing a net gain per month or net loss in the inventory levels.

Evaluate the percentage of appreciation for average sales price last year versus this year.

· Is the appreciating percentage decreasing or increasing compared to the same time last year?
· Is the marketplace gaining or losing strength?

To be a Champion Agent, you must have greater marketplace knowledge. I find that, through marketplace knowledge, an Agent can increase their credibility and trust with a prospect and client.

Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. The Real Estate community has embraced and praised his six best-selling books; Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, Successful Time Management for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print.

Real Estate Champions is a premier coaching company. Training covers a wide spectrum from new agents, to seasoned, as well as those interested in real estate marketing or real estate investing.

You can get more information at Tough Market Domination, Scripts & Dialogues

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dirk_Zeller

It's Your Career - I'm here to Support YOU!
Constantine Isslamow
Broker of Record
Century 21United Realty Inc. Brokerage
Independently Owned and Operated
Friends, followers, and connections are the way of the future.
Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn