Well, co-presented may be a bit of a stretch as my segment was about 3 minutes long!  The main presenter was Shawn O'hara from Radar Hill and he gave a great presentation on the do's and do not's for social marketing.  Tim Ayres, Aaron Hall, and myself were there to give some validation to his concepts and to talk briefly about our success using social media.

I must say that I've been to a lot of these seminars, and the more of them that I go to, the more I realize that there is to learn!

(h) (r)

For both houses and condos, the trend continues in a positive direction for sellers.  We are definitely seeing more properties changing hands, and those properties are changing hands more quickly than they were earlier in the year.  Usually this increased pressure leads to increasing pricing and we may be seeing just the start of that now.  Prices are still bouncing up and down, but the trend line is pointing upwards here as well.  We are not projecting a run up of prices, but instead some small appreciation mainly due to supply and demand pressures. 

Careful optimism is still the word of the day.  Most sales are of newly listed, well priced properties.  Overly optimistic sellers are not finding buyers.  Keep in mind that although the number of sales is growing, the available inventory for sale is growing as well.

Over the last 30 days, 238 single family houses were sold, up by 11 houses from last week.  The median price is up $19,500...

Another busy week, 2 buyers firmed up their new home orders and we have two new accepted offers at Homes at Hazelwood.  We'll be at our show home both days this weekend from 1-4pm and hope to see you there!

(h)

The information is coming out quickly on this.  Here a couple of key points to know:

1. Of course, this only applies to newly built or substantially renovated homes.
2. This only applies to offers accepted on or after February 21, 2012.  If you already have an accepted offer, you do not qualify.
3. The savings is equivalent to 5% of the home price, up to a maximum savings of $10,000.
4. If the combined annual income of the couple of single purchaser exceeds $150,000, the savings starts to get smaller.
5. The savings are not at time of purchase, but will be in the form a tax refund when you file your annual taxes.

If you have more questions, please click here to read the details straight from the government.  As well, feel free to give us a call.

(h)(r)

It has been a GREAT week for those looking to buy new homes.  Earlier, we learned that the HST rebate was boosted, reducing the price of new homes over $525,000.  

Now, we learn that the goverment has a great surprise for first time home buyers as well.

Effective immediately, and continuing until March 31, 2013, first time home buyers can save an additional $10,000 when they buy a newly built home.  We understand that this will be implemented through and income tax credit.  Of course, first time home buyers are also eligible to waive the property transfer tax in many cases.

It is obvious that our government understands that real estate transactions are a huge driver for our economy.  Not only does every sale generate a lot of tax revenue, but each sale also creates jobs, spurs spending on new furniture, renovations, and more. 

We'll have more details on the implementation of this new program as they become available.

(h) (r)

It was another positive week in the market with an increasing pace of sales for both houses and condos.  Although prices are still down, the pace of sales and the number of days that it takes to sell a home are both going in the right direction.  I tend to think that if demand stays high, we could even see some slight appreciation in prices.  But, lets not jump the gun on that one!

It is important to point out that the new HST transition rules are great news for new home buyers.  In short, any new home selling for more than $525,000 now attracts less HST and should be cheaper.  Homes priced at under $525,000 are not affected.  The tax savings are incremental, with new properties valued at $850,000 and higher seeing a tax reduction of $16,250.  Even better, these transition rules give tax certainty and tell us that new properties cost the same today as they will after the HST disappears completely.  Considering that developers have been hurting...