Here's the flipside to that article, char.
Toronto real estate market continues to cool
Posted: April 04, 2008, 10:20 AM by Rob Roberts
Real estate
Ali Zafar, National Post
Housing sales have remained cool for the second straight month in Toronto -- in part due to the implementation of the land transfer tax on Feb. 1, says the Toronto Real Estate Board. With 6,631 transactions in March, sales in the GTA and in Toronto declined 22% and 18% respectively, compared to a year ago.
The value of homes in Toronto appreciated, year-over-year.
At an average of $380,338 in the GTA and $404,116 in Toronto, prices have increased 4% and 2% respectively.
Some neighbourhoods experienced an increased in activity last month.
The Thorncliffe Park area of Toronto saw a 6% overall increase in sales, based mainly on semi-detached sales, which were up in the town of Georgina, up 1%, compared to a year ago. Sales in Burlington were up 18% compared to a year ago, with brisk activity in most housing categories.
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by Toronto Bear
Apr 04 2008
12:25 PM Looks eerily similar to how the bubble burst in the US. First sales decline. Next inventory increases. After that the shills come out and insist all is well. Next we introduce a 50 year mortgage. Days on market still increase, and finally, prices fall, and panic sets in. Speculators have ruined the housing market for an entire generation. One-Bloor is a perfect example.
Mainstream media gets too much revenue from Realtors and thus have significant conflicts of interest when reporting these stories.
Kudos to Garth Turner for trying to talk some sense into people. Too bad nobody will listen until it's too late. We are headed down the same path as the US but remarkably people think it's different here. 78% of pre-tax income to own a home in vancouver! LOL! Prices have not been this unaffordable since 1989....and well, that was the last time there was a big housing crash in canada.
In the long term, homes cannot be investments (for the average person) because people have to afford to be able to live in them. Thus they can only grow parallel with incomes, period. Any home price increases at a rate above income-increases are completely unsustainable in the long term.
