Andy Sagu Mississauga Real Estate

There is a lot of talk in the media of the real estate market slowing down in major cities with prices dropping in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary to the tune of up to 15%. You would not say that looking at the sales numbers in the West GTA. Prices are consistently up in Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton although the rate of appreciation has moderated from last year. A year ago appreciation rate was in the order of 9%. In April 2013 average home prices in Mississauga rose 3%, in Brampton by 5%, and in Oakville by 6%.

In Mississauga 3,016 homes exchanged hands compared to 3,523 at the same time last year. Standing inventory was much tighter last year at 1.6 months (Homes Available divided by Solds for the month). The average monthly inventory is tracking around 2.2 months. This is still by all means a red hot real estate market, only slightly slower than this time last year.

Good News for Sellers – Prices are up from last year. Spring is here, so Now is the best time to be on the market.

Good News for Buyers – Appreciation has moderated from one and two years ago. Great time to move up, move sideways, or get into the market.

(For the diehard analyticals, I’ll post the numbers below):

The sold numbers are tracking not too far off from levels of this time last year. Last month the average monthly inventory was hovering around 3.5 to 4 months for West GTA. In October that ratio has gotten much better at 2.6 months for Mississauga and 3.0 months for Brampton. Wow, this is a very healthy and balanced market. If these monthly inventory numbers track like this then this provides for an excellent climate to sell your home and more importantly, sell your home and buy your next one. Sales Numbers for October 2012 for West GTA are reported here:

Have a glance t the sales numbers below for Sep 2012 and compare them with my last post with the numbers from August 2012. Prices are up for the homes that sold, but the monthly inventory ratios are steadily creeping up to a point where if no other homes come on the market, it will take between 3.5 to 4 months to get a home sold. The market in the West GTA has definitely found a direction from July, August to September. 

We saw this market in 2008. There are plenty of homes selling and there is great choice for buyers. Understanding the market numbers is the first step is making your real estate decisions – with confidence and without emotion. 

The following table outlines market stats for Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton for August 2012. Sales and buyer activity remains very high as the average price in Aug 2012 rose between 8% to 10% from the same time last year. As you are following in the news that the Government is taking credit for tightening mortgage lending rules in order to curb price appreciation in housing. We shall see over the next few months how this plays out in the real world.

The number of sales in Brampton at 661 are virtually unchanged from the same period last year. In Oakville,  174 homes changed owners, up from 151 last year. Mississauga saw a decline in sales at 775 down from 934. Active listings are now on the rise and the monthly inventory figure stands at around 2.7 months. This means that if no listings come on the market, it will take 2.7 months to absorbs all the homes on the market. This is a key number to watch as it has risen from 1.8 over the past few months. This number has a direct impact on home prices. 

Every home has it’s own supply and demand curve and when selling or buying, it is very important that you understand the supply and demand for your particular home. 

TORONTO, September 6, 2012 – Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 6,418 sales through the TorontoMLS system in August 2012, representing a year-over-decline of almost 12.5 per cent compared to 7,330 sales reported in August 2011. The number of new listings reported in August was down by 5.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

“Residential transactions were down in August compared to last year. Stricter mortgage lending guidelines, which came into effect in July, arguably played a role. In the City of Toronto, the additional impact of relatively higher home prices coupled with the upfront cost associated with the City’s Land Transfer Tax led to a stronger annual decline in sales compared to the rest of the GTA,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.

The average selling price for August 2012 transactions was $479,095 – up by almost 6.5 per cent compared to August 2011. The annual rate of price growth was driven by the low-rise home segment in the City of Toronto, including single-detached homes with an average annual price increase of 15 per cent. The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI)* composite index, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of benchmark home prices from one year to the next, was up by 6.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While sales were down year-over-year in the GTA, so too were new listings. As a result, market conditions remained quite tight with substantial competition between buyers in the low-rise market segment,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The trends for sales and new listings are moving somewhat in synch, suggesting that the relationship between sales and listings will continue to promote price growth moving forward.”