Greetings !

I hope you all have been able to stay warm and dry over the past few months. 2014 seems to be really testing not only to our personal health, strength and patience, but also our properties/infrastructure. At the beginning of January, I exchanged war stories with many clients about “Survival Christmas 2013” thinking the worst had past. I don’t think we’ve experienced a year, between summer floods and winter ice storms, quite as exhausting as this one. Let’s hope we survive the next weeks ahead and are blessed with a well deserved early spring.

Surprisingly, the weather is not slowing down the Toronto real estate market! This has been a busy January/February with prices rising due to a short supply of listings. I have been fortunate to have sold a number of excellent listings. All sold within 10 days for benchmark values. Again, I see the market being driven by first time home buyers and dual income families looking to spend up to 1.5 million. There is also finally good news in the high end luxury market as well.  Based on the final reported sales for 2013, an upward trajectory, marked by new records in high end sales can be seen across the board.  I know many of my clients will be happy to hear that the luxury market is bouncing back.

Interest rates will continue to remain low and no significant changes are expected until 2015. These low rates have been the driving factor in the continued fast pass of the Toronto market, especially when values are still lower than most major cities in the world and we can still hold on to the dream of homeownership… for the time being! If you have a mortgage coming due or looking to buy up in the near future, I have provided useful information to review:

TD Canada Trust Rate Sheet
Craig Alexander’s Economic Forecast and Real Estate Outlook Report

CALL OR EMAIL ME with any questions, as I’d LOVE to hear from you.

Stay warm,  I think this winter has a few more surprises in store for us!

Joy Verde