MLS® home sales activity climbed to the highest level on record for the month of October in the area served by the Barrie District Association of REALTORS® Inc. Improving demand and fewer new listings continue to firm up the market.
According to statistics provided by the Association, MLS® home sales activity totalled 389 units in October 2009, jumping 39 per cent year-over-year. This is the largest gain since November 2007, and the fifth consecutive increase from year-ago levels.
Seasonally adjusted sales activity was up three per cent on a monthly basis in October (seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations). Building on monthly increases since the beginning of the year, seasonally adjusted activity now stands 87 per cent above the low from January.
“October was another record month for sales,” said Wendy Elzner, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “Activity continues moving away from the slump at the beginning of 2009 as demand improves and inventories shrink.”
The total dollar value of all MLS® home sales amounted to $104.4 million in October 2009, 43 per cent above year-ago levels. This is the largest increase in dollar volume in 23 months.
Total MLS® sales activity in the Barrie region numbered 401 units in October, jumping 41 per cent year-over-year. The total value of all MLS® properties sold in October 2009 was $107.4 million, 46 per cent above levels from October 2008.
The year-to-date average price for homes sold via the Association’s MLS® system in October was $264,057. That number is virtually unchanged from one year ago.
New residential listings numbered 606 units in October 2009, edging down one per cent year-over-year. This is the seventh consecutive month in which new listings have declined from year-ago levels.
The number of active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® system dropped 20 per cent from a year earlier to 1,579 units at the end of October 2009. This is the fifth double-digit decline in as many months, and the sixth consecutive month in which active listings have declined from year-ago levels.
There were 4.1 months of inventory in October. This is down from levels in each of the previous two months, and well below levels posted earlier this year. 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.
The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members.
I sent the following letter to our Provincial Member of Parliament in reference to statements made by our Provincial government while in Barrie on a whirl-wind (make that smoke blowing) tour this fall to try to convince us all that the additional 8% tax on most services in Ontario is something good that we should welcome and look forward to.
Well my MPP Aileen Carroll never bothered to acknowledge my letter of October 21st 2009 but I have posted it below for you to read. I would suggest all Ontario residents who read this forward it on to others you think will be impacted upon by this tax. We should all send letters to our Premier Dalton McGuinty to voice our concerns. He is counting on our complacency on this.
Dalton McGuinty Premier - Government of Ontario Email: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org Website: https://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/feedback.asp Phone: (416) 325-3777 Phone: (416) 325-1941 Fax: (416) 325-3745
Aileen Carroll, MPP Barrie - Member of Provincial Parliament Email 1: acarroll.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org Email 2: carrollaileen@yahoo.ca Constituency Office Suite 306 128 Wellington St W Barrie ON L4N8J6 Phone: (705) 726-5538 Fax: (705) 726-2880
re: HST "Nothing to fear"
Our Provincial Liberal party has said over and over that the harmonized sales tax is intended to stimulate job growth in Ontario. I am hopeful it has that intended affect but it will be months if not years before we will be able to measure the results. What I do know to be absolute fact is HST will have an immediate negative impact on Ontario's real estate industry, one of the main pillars of Ontario's economy.
Each home purchase in Ontario typically adds many thousands of dollars to the economy by way of home improvements and home related purchases. Purchases that renters have no need to make. Both the Canadian and Ontario Real Estate Associations have concluded that the harmonized sales tax is going to add an additional $1449 on average to up front costs for the average resale home purchase in Ontario.
Our Liberal Revenue Minister pointed out in Barrie last week that "our fears are unnecessary". For him, 8% more on legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions, home inspection fees, and moving costs just for starters is nothing to fear but it is for many of the people I come in contact with each day. Existing home owners are going to feel the tug at their wallets too come next June as this reformed tax will apply to utility and home service costs as well. This will with certainty push the ability to buy a home beyond reach for tens if not hundreds of thousands of families here in Barrie and throughout Ontario.
The impact of that on the economy will be felt by all. A majority of homes purchased in Barrie throughout this past year's recession were in the lower end of the price range, typically by first time home buyers who, though qualified financially for a mortgage were hard pressed to raise down payment and various costs associated with a home purchase. You probably bumped into some of them this year at furniture and appliance stores or building and garden centers around town.
Many of them had borrowed, saved and sacrificed to get just enough together to buy that first home and may well be renting still if they had to pay HST on top of all other up front costs. Our Provincial Liberal Government should be giving families just starting out in Ontario an advantage, not an added disadvantage.
I respectfully call on our M.P.P. Aileen Carroll to on behalf of all Barrie residents, ask the Provincial government to spare the above mentioned resale home purchase related services from Harmonized Sales Taxes, at very least, for first time home buyers. This tax will hurt Ontario's real estate industry and all of our industries that depend on a healthy real estate economy for their existence.
Sincerely,
Mike Montague Realtor - Sutton Group Incentive Realty Inc.
My week began as usual with a coffee and a look at the newspaper headlines. A story in the Star about changes to the business of Real Estate to be imposed by the Canadian Competition Bureau had many in our industry buzzing by the end of the day.
The story falsely reported that a settlement between the Competition Bureau and CREA was reached that effectively would open the MLS® system (Realtor.ca - MLS.ca) to the public and it would no longer be a member-to-member system as it has been since its original inception by the Canadian Association of Realtors.
CREA has not reached a settlement with the Competition Bureau and CREA has not changed its MLS® Rules and Interpretations. The papers had it wrong. So much for journalistic integrity.
The Competition Bureau did requested that changes to certain Rules and Interpretations that deal with the acceptance of mere postings on Board MLS® Systems (i.e., where the agreement between the listing agent and the seller is that the listing agent will not provide services other than listing the property on a Board’s MLS® System). The Competition Bureau has said that if CREA does not remove these restrictions the Commissioner of Competition will initiate an application before the Competition Tribunal, which is a quasi-judicial body that can, among other things, make orders requiring or prohibiting certain conduct (e.g., requiring rule changes).
CREA is reviewing the request and any decision will have to meet the approval of its membership which includes all registered Realtors in Canada.
The concerns expressed by Realtors I have spoken with should the MLS® system be thrown open are justified.
Firstly as the system functions now all listings and their data undergo a high level of scrutiny to assure its integrity. If any and all persons were able to submit without this scrutiny the value of the service would not be possible and the courts would be filled beyond capacity from St. Johs to Victoria with buyers and sellers where properties were intentionally or accidentally misrepresented.
Second, it must be remembered that this system started as a paper catalog to allow the public and other agents to see the homes we list for our clients without having to drive up and down every street looking for signs on lawns. It naturally progressed to the Internet much like Sears or Canadian Tire stores have done with their catalogs. Ask yourself how foolish a ruling it would be if the Competition Bureau demanded that either of those stores allow you to post your garage sale items.
Another myth that the media has propagated this week is that Realtor fees are monopolized. This is completely untrue. Every person has the right to negotiate a fee that both parties can agree to. If an agreement can not be reached, there are no shortage of Realtors available to repeat the negotiating with until you are satisfied.
Something to keep in mind is that the agent pockets a much smaller portion of that fee than most would think and uses his/her portion of that fee to advertise your house. A listing costs the Realtor $1000 on average to list for a 90 day term whether it sells or not. A majority of owners who over price their homes will choose to change Realtors over properly adjusting their price.
Blame the game, not the player for the expenses involved in the business of Professional Real Estate sales. Those costs are what they are, the part you are negotiating is the agent's profit. You are hiring them as much for their negotiating skills as their knowledge of the business. Just the fact that you have read this far separates you from the herd. Here then is an important rule of thumb every seller should, but few ever consider. If the Realtor you are interviewing for the job of selling your home can't even protect their own income in negotiating with you, are you confident they can negotiate the best possible dollar on your home? Don't sell yourself or your Realtor short.
For the time being and given all I have learned this week, it will be a long time if ever before any bureaucracy forces the MLS® system from the reliable data base it is today into being a bulletin board with no accountability.
That is a victory for our industry only because it is a victory for the public. What the events of this week did do was give me and other Realtors an opportunity to hear the concerns and assumptions of the public about the business of Real estate.
Many posted stories on online forums about selling their home themselves and saving the commission fees.
Those who wish to sell their home without the representation of a Realtor are free to do so in Canada. There are private companies that for a fee will put your home on their websites and there are multiple media sources online and in print that will accommodate your advertising.
A little better than half the time a sale will go through without issues, The time it takes to sell private over through an agent is reduced in a heated market such as the Greater Toronto Area continues to experience. Those that did have a successful self sale can appreciate the investment of time and diligence required but what those who do hire a professional are more importantly paying for is the assurance that the deal will go off with little or no hitches or legal challenges and the proficiency and protection that is there should things not go according to Hoyle.
Much like an insurance policy, most days you don't need it but you are glad for it when you do.
For those with the time and ambition to represent themselves in the purchase or sale of real estate in order to try and save the out of pocket expense of hiring a Realtor, the link below will provide you with some good insight into the legalities that will or could come into play.
You'll want to have the knowledge that will save you from - or help you deal with some of the complecations that can arise when selling and buying real estate as the expense of a lawyer for unforeseen issues will quickly defeat your purpose.
Bookmark this link for future reference and if you have any questions I make myself available for consultation. Often a Tim Hortons coffee is all it will cost you.
Barrie has a few homes rumoured to be frequented by paranormal squatters and yes if yours is one of them, you have to disclose this information to potential buyers.
The mood was one of gaiety and laughter as we stood around in a circle, glasses of wine in hand, trying to outdo one another with ghostly real estate tales.
The setting was one of the office parties my broker at that time, regularly held to recognize the office achievements of his sales representatives. When it came my turn to tell a story, I decided to relay the events that had occurred at an open house I had held at one of my listings the previous weekend.
There was a hush in our small group as I began my story...
On the previous weekend, I had done an open house at a circa mid 1800s home in one of Ontario's oldest towns.
When I had listed the house, the owner, one of the warmest and nicest women in her seventies I have ever known, told me the story about Edmund, who she was going to dearly miss when she moved. ‘Who is Edmund?’, I asked; thinking him to be a neighbour. With a somber look in her eye, she told me in an outright fashion, ‘Edmund is the ghost that lives here in the house and has been here since the day we bought it 30 odd years ago.'
‘Oh?’ , I asked as my eyebrows rose in sincere interest.
‘Yes, he is very mischievous and he and I are friends. He often plays games like flushing the toilet, or moving my papers around from one room to another. ‘ , she said with a twinkle in her eye.
‘Really?’, I exclaimed, thinking to myself that perhaps she was just saying these things to amuse me.
She then proceeded to tell me about the history of the house, how rumour had it that the original owner, a blacksmith, had hung himself in the woodshed, which was now the family room, in the late 1800s.
She figured Edmund was this blacksmith’s ghost. She also said that various members of her large extended family had seen Edmund and that his footsteps were often heard walking around the house.
I finished up my paperwork, had her sign all the documents and drove back home to prepare the listing for turning in to my office first thing in the morning. I didn’t think much more about her story until one grey, wet Sunday in the fall when I was at the property doing an open house.
Things were very quiet during the first half hour with no prospects turning out in the drizzly rain. Deciding to go into the living room and read some magazines, I had no sooner sat down when I heard a door open and some footsteps walking across a hall upstairs.
Suspecting a buyer must have tiptoed by the living room doorway and not known I was here, I decided to go upstairs and investigate. The second story of the home was not huge, consisting mainly of two bedrooms, a large hallway and a bathroom.
I checked the bathroom and each bedroom, including under the beds and in the closets and, upon finding no one, I decided I must have been hearing things.
With a bewildered feeling, I returned downstairs and to my spot in the living room where my magazine lay waiting.
I had barely sat back down when I heard the toilet upstairs flush and the loud footsteps above my head once more. Thoughts of Edmund came to my mind, however I thought to myself 'there is just NO way'.
Surmising that there HAD to be SOMEONE up there, I very quietly snuck back up the stairs. Pausing at the top landing, I gazed down the hall and towards the open bedroom doors.
Standing very still, I listened for any noises. Nothing. I checked each wardrobe in the bedroom, under the beds once more, and in the walk-in closet and again checked the bathroom. No one could be found anywhere.
By now I was beginning to have the sneaking suspicion that Edmund was making his presence known to me. Feeling a bit foolish, I softly said ‘Hello Edmund.’. Then I went back downstairs and finished my reading.
When the loud footsteps began again upstairs, I ignored them. On that cold, drizzly fall day, not a single person had attended my open house, unless you count Edmund, of course.
An agent called me in the last ten minutes and said he was bringing over an offer and asked if he could present it to my seller after the open house. I told him that would be fine as I knew my seller was coming back as soon as the open house had ended.
As I stood waiting for her in the doorway between the kitchen and the sunroom, I felt a coldness all down one side of my body. I shivered as I sensed someone standing right next to me.
Moving out of the energy field to escape the uneasy feeling, I felt strong eyes upon me and decided to go outside and wait for my seller to return. Edmund was getting too close for comfort.
The seller returned, we dealt with the offer, and before leaving I told her I had met Edmund. She seemed quite pleased with this and told me this meant that he liked me.
As I finished my story, I noticed how round and amazed my peers eyes had become. Since we were a group of close friends and watched out for each other’s interests, one of them asked if I had told our broker about this. No, I said. I didn’t think I needed to. She replied that he would be very interested in hearing this story. I felt rather embarrassed and did not want to tell him. Unfortunately, right at that moment, he approached our group and asked ‘What’s up ladies?’
My friend announced ‘Jo has a story to tell you.’. Well, I guess I now had no choice but to relay the story to him. Upon hearing the story, he proceeded to ask me if I had told the buyer’s agent who had brought the offer on the property about this. ‘No', I replied, 'I didn’t think I had to.’
‘You most certainly do have to disclose this to the buyer’s representative', he said.
He then told us that a few years previous, a local brokerage had been sued for not disclosing the facts or knowledge of a haunted house that one of his agents had listed. The house was known to be haunted and no one had told the buyers or their agent about this. The buyers moved in and a succession of very frightening things had occurred. Eventually they found out that the house was known to be haunted and they proceeded to sue the listing brokerage.
The listing brokerage had lost that lawsuit.
Office policy now dictated that we MUST disclose when one of our listings is known to be haunted to the buyer’s representatives and to potential buyers. In my case, it turned out ok. I called the buyer’s representative and informed him of the possibility of a ghost.
It turned out he and his buyers already were aware of the ghost, since they all were local residents and had heard the stories over a course of many years. The fact that it was haunted did not scare his buyers in the least. On the contrary, there ended up being a bidding war for the property precisely BECAUSE it was known to be haunted. It seems the ghost was quite a local celebrity .
Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group - Quantum Realty Inc., Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.Oakville-BurlingtonHomes.com
I took a drive with my friend Deb last weekend and Moe the dog came along for the ride. Moe added an interesting component to the sunday drive. Deb does the morning radio show at KoolFM here in town and....well have a look and listen as she elegantly describes the days events on her show the following morning.
Late this summer on a warm night around a campfire just outside of town, Grant Sauve serenaded the group, strumming out one song after another. He played for us a tune he penned called "Here in Barrie". I shared the story with some members of our City council the next week suggesting they contact Grant about making this an official anthem for our town. I don't know if anything transpired from that but this morning I awoke to the "Here in Barrie" song being played on KoolFM107.5
Hopefully the momentum is underway for Grant and "Here in Barrie"
The province of Ontario officially banned hands on cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle on our roads today. As my monthly wireless bill will confirm, I am constantly on the phone as I move between appointments. A bigger distraction for me is trying to get that plastic tab on my Tim Horton's coffee to stay folded back while I drive.
I can't help but think of this as one more step towards a world where we all must by law, function within the boundaries and limitations of the lowest common denominators in society. This morning I opened a box containing my new and now required blue tooth ear piece. Amongst all the access packaging and manuals was a small square paper package containing granules of something meant to keep humidity levels down inside of the box I presume, but on both sides of the package in big bold letter were the words DO NOT EAT.
Amongst some others, today's new hands free legislation is geared towards those who's first instinct is to eat packages of forign substances they find inside of electronics boxes. On a daily basis I pull in an out of Real Estate company parking lots filled with cars. I speak to hundreds of Realtors every year. Rarey if ever do I recall a conversation about recent road accidents. Well one involving a dear recently but I am doubtful a cell phone played any part. I have no images to call up in my memory of crunched fenders or bumpers in any of those parking lots either.
Realtors with their vital need for communication were the pioneers of multitasking behind the wheel and as such I think we developed the required skills to walk and talk, drive and talk early on in the techno revolution. I'd like to think two airline pilot friends of mine have the required skills as well to multi task on the job. My guess is they are trained specifically to do so.
Here then is an idea. Instead of road legislation that once more imposes simple broad stroke reaction to an issue, why not create a new class of drivers license for those who need to do more than one thing while driving to earn a living? Keep it to communications devices, we don't need to be queuing our ipods while driving. I would take that course if it was offered, so would the 45000 plus Ontario Realtors (do the quick math on the revenue such a course would generate for MTO just on that rather than fines for hands free violations). It would make all of us who took the course safer drivers than an all out ban is going to.
How about you.. Do you have the dexterity and mental capacity to safely talk on the phone while driving?
MLS® home sales activity reached the highest level ever for the month of September in the area served by the Barrie District Association of REALTORS® Inc. Improving demand and fewer new listings continue to draw down inventories.
According to statistics provided by the Association, MLS® home sales activity totalled 422 units in September 2009. This is a 20 per cent jump year-over-year, and represents the fourth consecutive increase from year-ago levels.
Sales activity was up seven per cent in September from the previous month, the largest increase over this period in six years. The larger than normal monthly increase resulted in a monthly increase of eight per cent in seasonally adjusted sales activity (seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal fluctuations). Seasonally adjusted activity in September stood 79 per cent above the low in January.
“September was another strong month for sales,” said Wendy Elzner, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “Rebounding demand and fewer new listings continue to draw down inventories and firm up the market.”
The total dollar value of all MLS® home sales amounted to $113.8 million in September 2009, 24 per cent above year-ago levels. This is the largest increase in dollar volume almost two years.
Total MLS® sales activity in the Barrie region numbered 439 units in September, rising 22 per cent year-over-year. The total value of all MLS® properties sold in September 2009 was $117.6 million, 23 per cent above levels from September 2008.
The average price for homes sold via the Association’s MLS® system in September was $269,755, up 3.5 per cent from one year ago.
New residential listings numbered 658 units in September 2009, down 10 per cent year-over-year. This is the sixth consecutive month in which the number of new listings is down from year-ago levels.
The number of active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® system declined 18 per cent year-over-year to 1,830 units at the end of September 2009. This is the fourth double-digit decline in as many months, and the fifth consecutive month in which active listings have dropped from year-ago levels.
The number of months of inventory was 4.3 months in September.This is down from 4.7 months in August, and well below levels posted earlier this year. 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.
The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members
Construction of the Lakehead University Orillia Ontario Campus is well underway and the first of three phases of this new education facility is expected to open in the fall of 2010. The creation of a new university presents a rare and significant real estate investment opportunity to those who will take advantage. Property values will be positively effected in Orillia in reflection of the demand for rental accommodations this facility is about to create.
Average home prices in Orillia are lower than Barrie to the south yet average rental rates for rooms, flats and apartments are on par with Barrie and are certain to increase with the imminent demand ahead. Orillia has many older homes in and aroud the area where the Lakehead campus is being constructed, many are on public transit routes and are good candidates for immediate or future rentals.
My advice to investors who have been underwhelmed by the ROI rates the Simcoe county rental market has shown for the past while is to take a serious look at the Orillia market and the opportunities it presents.
Parents of students who will be attending Lakehead University in Orillia will want to consider the financial benefits of purchasing over renting. Learn more
Should you wish to be kept current on listing activity for the Orillia area call or email me with your purchase criteria. I will provide you with regular updates on current and future properties for sale.
Set up a custom search engine and have photos and feature sheets of Barrie area properties matching the criteria you select emailed to you as soon as they list
Take the next step if you are ready to list and have a home evaluation prepared free within 48 hours
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
‘Oh?’ , I asked as my eyebrows rose in sincere interest. 
prospects turning out in the drizzly rain.
. 
has a story to tell you.’. Well, I guess I now had no choice but to relay the story to him. 
Realtors with their vital need for communication were the pioneers of multitasking behind the wheel and as such I think we developed the required skills to walk and talk, drive and talk early on in the techno revolution. I'd like to think two airline pilot friends of mine have the required skills as well to multi task on the job. My guess is they are trained specifically to do so.
;)
;)
