RE/MAX WEST

January, 2005 Newsletter

2005 Real Estate Outook!

An economic comeback helped fuel record demand for residential real estate in the Greater Toronto Area in 2004.

Forecast to surpass all prior expectations as a result, home
sales are likely to climb a substantial nine per cent to 85,700
by year-end. It’s anticipated that average price will top last
year’s figure by just under $25,000, bringing the overall value of homes in the GTA to $318,000—8.5 per cent higher than the $293,067 reported at year-end 2003. (For a copy of the full report, click on the link below)

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January, 2005 Market Statistics

In the first two weeks of this month, sales of single-family dwellings are up 18 per cent to 1,310 over the same period in January 2004.

Prices are also up in the first days of 2005, to $301,372 from January 2004's end-of-month figure of $295,989.

The Real Estate Board President says that a good beginning can lay a solid foundation for the year.

"Strong early numbers in January bode well for a good start to 2005 as the market begins to gear up following the holiday season. The beginning of the spring season for the real estate market is generally considered to be the end of January, at which time sales volumes tend to rise".

Meanwhile, the latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that the national unemployment level fell 0.3 percentage points in December to seven per cent, the lowest level since 2001. In Toronto, one thousand jobs were added over that same time frame.

Despite some analystsи predictions that Canada's economic growth will slow somewhat from the pace of 2004, on the whole the situation is quite favourable.

"A positive economic climate continues to exist, keeping home ownership a realistic goal."

"Most analysts expect the Bank of Canada to moderately raise interest rates, probably by about 50 basis points over the course of 2005, due at least in part to the rising dollar. The prospect of a slight rise however; will not likely to scare off consumers."