Andrew at JustBungalows.com

May 2012 mid-Month Sales Figures...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:19:00 GMT

May 16, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board today released their mid-month Market Update.

Unit sales were 5,142 for the first 14 days of the month, up 14.5% over the same period in 2011.

New listings were up 13%, and the average selling price continues to rise, up 6% to $517,242.

For the full report, please click here.

To request an update of activity in your own neighbourhood, or a neighbourhood that's of interest to you, click here.

April Toronto Real Estate Board Sales Statistics...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:27:00 GMT

May 4, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board's sales figures for April, 2012, were released today reflecting continued market strength.

Unit sales were 18% higher than April, 2011 at 10,350 firm transactions versus 8,778 a year earlier.

Single-Detached homes were the strongest market segment, up 22%. Because actual listings of single-detached homes have not kept up with rising demand, the year-over-year price rise was also strongest in this segment at +8.5% to $517,556 compared to April, 2011.

For the full report, please click here.

CREA Releases National Statistics for March, 2012...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:29:00 GMT

April 16, 2012 - The Canadian Real Estate Association today released Nation-wide residential real estate sales statistics for March.

Overall sales were up a tepid 2.5% versus February, 2012, and up a mere 1.6% over March, 2011.

Newly listed homes actually fell 0.3% versus February. With sales still rising - albeit marginally - but the number of available properties falling - the market remains relatively tight.

The national average home price fell year-over-year by 0.5%, however.

Please click here to view the full report.

April Mid-Month Sales Figures

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:59:00 GMT

April 18, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board's mid-month statistics were released today, showing a nearly seven percent increase over the same period in April, 2011. This year's figure was 4,557 residential transactions.

Because the number of new listings grew at a slower rate than the number of sales, upward pressure on prices continued. Prices rose about 5% versus the year-earlier period.

The average sale price for the 1st half of the month in all Toronto Real Estate Board Districts was $506,954.

It's interesting to note that both sales volume and average prices were stronger in the 905 versus the City of Toronto on a year-over-year basis. With respect to Detached Homes, for example, unit sales in the 905 rose 10%, compared to virtually no change in the 416. Average sale price rose 7% in the 905, versus 3% in the 416.

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

March Month-End Sales Statistics Released...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:21:00 GMT

April 4, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board's month-end sales statistics were released today for March, 2012.

Members reported 9,690 sales for the month - up just shy of 8% over the same period a year earlier.

The average selling price in the GTA was $501,614 - up 10% year-over-year [though off about $1,000 versus February, 2012].

The average listing sold for 100% of asking price, and the average "Days on Market" was 21.

There were 16,308 new listings on the month, up 7.1% over March, 2011, and total "Active" listings rose 2.2% 16,920. There's a relatively low 2.2 months of inventory - the inventory figures being calculated based on a 12-month moving average of available listings.

To view the full report in PDF format, please click here.

National Stats Released by CREA for February...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:51:00 GMT

March 15, 2012 - The Canadian Real Estate Association released National statistics for the month of February, 2012.

Overall, home sales were up 1.4% versus January and 8.6% over February, 2011. New listings were up slightly [1.9%] over January.

Nationally, the average price rose 2% year-over-year.

For more information, click here.

March Mid-Month Sales Figures

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:21:00 GMT

March 19, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board's mid-month statistics were released today with Members reporting 4,215 transactions over the first 14 days of the month...and while we'd note that that's only 45% of the month, it's still an approximately 7% increase in units sold versus the same "first 45% of March" last year!

Average selling price was $502,155, more than 9% higher than a year earlier... and homes sold for an average 100% of asking price after 3 weeks on the market.

Full details of the report are available by clicking here.

February Month-End Sales Figures...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:17:00 GMT

March 05, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board today released sales statistics for the month of February, 2012.

Members of the Board reported 7,032 sales for the month - a 16% increase over the same month a year earlier - though, 2012 being a leap year, there was one additional day versus February, 2011.

The average selling price pushed above the half-million mark to $502,508 - an 11% increase over the prior February.

The average listing sold for 99% of asking price, and the average "Days on Market" was 24, down from 27 Days a year earlier.

New Listings were up 11% to 12,684, though total listing inventory was virtually unchanged at 14,546 active listings - a relatively low two months of inventory.

To view the entire report [pdf], click here.

February Mid-Month Sales Figures...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:19:00 GMT

February 16, 2012 - The Toronto Real Estate Board today released it's mid-February market figures.

Member Realtors® reported 3,206 sales over the first 14 days of the month, up more than nine percent versus the same period last year.

New listings were up 13% over the same period.

Average sale price was $491,493, also up nine percent over the year-earlier period. Average Days on Market, or "DOM", was 25.

The full report is available by clicking here.

Uptrend Intact for Toronto Real Estate Market...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:49:00 GMT

There were 4,567 properties sold via the Toronto Real Estate Board MLS® for the month of January, 2012, 8.8% higher than the same month last year.

The average sale price this January was $463,534, up 8.87% over the January, 2011 average.
Specifically, detached home in the 416 area code rose 15% year-over-year to an average of $743,993 while detached homes in the 905 area code rose 5% to $530,129.

There were 9,655 new listings reported by the Board during the month [all residential property types], bringing the total to 11,009 active listings – that total number was down 9.1% versus total active listings the prior January, though the new listings figure was actually up 8% year-over-year to 8,937.

To read the entire report [pdf], please click here.

Update: ecoENERGY Retrofit Homes Program

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:53:00 GMT

The federal government’s ecoENERGY Retrofits- Homes program is now no longer accepting new registrants. This program enabled eligible homeowners to receive grants of up to $5,000 to make their homes more energy-efficient.

Due to the popularity of the program, only registrations submitted prior to January 28, 2012 have been accepted. To ensure registered homeowners have time to complete their post-retrofit evaluations, the evaluation deadline has been extended from March 31st to June 30, 2012.

Prior to undertaking any renovations, homeowners must have first assumed an energy audit of their home by a licensed service organization. The evaluation report provides customized recommendations for renovations to improve the energy efficiency of the home. Once the homeowner has completed the renovations, a post-retrofit evaluation must be undertaken to determine the change in the home’s energy efficiency.

Only products purchased on or after June 6, 2011, and installed after a pre-retrofit evaluation are eligible for the grant. All post-retrofit evaluations must be completed by June 30th, 2012.

For more information on the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program, please visit: http://www.ecoaction.gc.ca/ecoenergy-ecoenergie/retrofithomes-renovationmaisons-eng.cfm

Notify your clients, friends and family of the changes to the ecoENERGY Retrofits- Homes program deadlines.

GTA REALTORS® Report Mid-Month Resale Housing Market Figures

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:41:00 GMT

TORONTO, January 17, 2012 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 1,506 sales through the TorontoMLS® system during the first two weeks of January 2012. This result represented a six per cent increase compared to the first 14 days of January 2011. New listings were also up on a year-over-year basis, but by a lesser 3.7 per cent...

Click here to read the full article...

Record Low Mortgage Rates...One week left??...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:19:00 GMT

From CBC News:
"All across the country, mortgage specialists and brokers are busy fielding calls from people who've just heard about this week's record low mortgage rates."

Hmmm. The banks maintain it's only a "limited-time promo". But, as pointed out in the article, banks - Central or otherwise - don't control rates in the bigger picture:
"It is the bond market that is the bigger driver of longer-term fixed mortgage rates, not the Bank of Canada's overnight rate, which directly affects variable mortgage rates and other floating loan rates."

So which is it? The banks offer record low rates for a "limited time", or the banks have little control over rates in the bigger picture?

We'll go with the latter.

Either way, "record levels" of anything don't last forever.

Read the whole article here, at CBC.ca

Glass in "Hundreds" of Toronto Condo Towers May Be a Problem...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:48:00 GMT

Beware future maintenance costs [and even re-sale issues??] if this is the problem that UofT Prof Ted Kesik believes...

"Toronto has more condominium towers under construction than any other city in North America, but recently glass-clad towers have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

It started in the summer of 2011 when glass started falling from the shattered balconies of several downtown condo buildings..." Click here to continue reading...

"Do we have enough money to retire?"...

Andrew at JustBungalows.com — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:23:00 GMT

Our resident Retirement Consultant, Jim Otar, answers...

This was the question Rita, my better half, asked me 12 years ago. At first, I told her, “Don’t worry, I am the financial planner in this family, leave it to me”, I continued with confidence, “after all, our former financial planner gave us a forecast in 1992. He was using a 12% average annual growth rate and look how rich we would be according to his plan!”

Then something unexpected happened: I threw away my financial planner’s hat. I found my old engineer’s hat in the attic, dusted it off, and I started researching this as an engineer. I could only find two articles about this topic. The first one was about sustainable withdrawal rates by W. Bengen, a fellow engineer from California. The second was an article called “Retirement Calculator from Hell” by William Bernstein. Anything else, academic or not, was either too tainted by the financial industry, or did not make any engineering sense to me. In 2001, I wrote my first book on this topic, aptly titled “High Expectations and False Dreams”. After reading it, Rita was not amused. Eight years later, I wrote a more comprehensive version, “Unveiling the Retirement Myth”. Rita read only a few pages from it; this time, she was busy getting ready to retire.

“Do we have enough to retire?” There are two aspects to this question: The first part is the cash flow, “how much income is enough each year?” The second part is the assets required: “how much retirement savings do you need at the beginning of retirement to finance your retirement”

The first part of the question is simple: Add up all your expected annual expenses after you retire. Then, figure out how much income can you expect from various sources: CPP, OAS, GIS, company pensions, rental income, royalties, etc. Take the difference: If your income is larger than your expenses -that would be likely the case if you have government or university pensions- then don’t worry; you have enough to retire. You are in the green zone.

However, if your estimated expenses exceed estimated income then you have a shortfall. To cover this income gap, you need retirement savings. This brings us back to our question “Do we have enough to retire?” To answer this, we need to establish some ground rules.

There are three basic risks for retirement financing: 1. Longevity risk, 2. Market Risk, 3. Inflation Risk.

Longevity risk means the risk of outliving your money. In a retirement plan, make sure that the survival rate is below 10%. Therefore, unless both you and your spouse have a life expectancy five years or less, use age 95 as a minimum age of death to cover the longevity risk properly.

Market risk means adverse market conditions throughout your retirement. The concepts of “time value of fluctuations”, “sequence of returns”, “inflation”, “reverse dollar-cost-averaging” all have devastating effects on portfolio longevity. Make sure that the probability of running out of money at the age of death remains below 10%.

Inflation risk means the necessity to maintain purchasing power throughout retirement. Make sure that the purchasing power does not decline by more than 10% throughout your retirement in your plan.

The final step is to figure out your required savings. For that, find your asset multiplier in the table below. Multiply this with the shortfall (i.e. the income gap) you calculated above. The result is the required savings at the start of your retirement based on actual market history; no assumptions, no forecast, no simulations. If your actual savings are larger than this, you are in the green zone, you have enough to retire. If you have less, then you are likely in the red zone; you need to do one or more of the following to migrate to the green zone: 1. delay retirement, 2. spend less, 3. work part-time during the retirement, 4. rent part of your home, 5. downsize your home, 6. reduce the portfolio costs, 7. stop giving money away, 8. buy a life annuity.

Retirement Age	Asset Multiplier
55	32
60	30
65	28
70	25
75	22
80	18

Finally, as of last month, Rita and I consider ourselves sort of retired.

Jim Otar, CMT, CFP, is a financial planner, a professional engineer, a market technician and a financial writer and the founder of retirementoptimizer.com. His past articles on retirement planning won the CFP Board Article Awards in 2001 and 2002. He is the author of “Unveiling the Retirement Myth – Advanced Retirement Planning based on Market History” and “High Expectation and False Dreams” Your comments are welcome: jim@retirementoptimizer.com