Brampton, ON

TORONTO REAL ESTATE BOARD (TREB) MARKET WATCH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2009

TREB Reports Strong Growth in October MLS Transactions

In October 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 8,476 sales, up 64 per cent from October 2008. The average price for October transactions was $423,559 - up by 20 per cent compared to the same month last year.

"Strong sales growth has occurred across many property classes - from price ranges that would attract first-time buyers to luxury properties selling for over one million dollars," said TREB President Tom Lebour. "The highest rate of sales growth in October was experienced for properties selling for over $750,000 dollars. In contrast, luxury home sales declined at an above-average rate last year."

Year-to-date sales, at 74,721, were up nine per cent compared to the first ten months of 2008. Average price, at $392,264 was up by almost three per cent.

"After a short dip in the winter, the average home price in the GTA has rebounded because sales have been high relative to listings," according to Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "Watch for listings to rebound in 2010 as home owners react to the strong sales and price growth experienced in the latter half of this year."

Median Price
In October, the median price was $357,000, from the $312,000 recorded during October of 2008.

HELOC - Not always bad!

A Home Equity Line of Credit can be good or bad depending on how you use it. There are 10 things savvy home owners should look for when considering a Home Equity Line Of Credit:

1) No HELOC application fee or at least the fee should be refunded at closing. If your lender assesses an application fee, make sure it's refundable at closing.

2) No home loan appraisal or closing costs - there are plenty of no-cost options available that you shouldn't have to pay a HELOC appraisal fee.

3) No HELOC account maintenance or check-writing fees - Lenders already make money when you write checks (read - borrow) on the home equity credit line. If your lender tries this, dump him!

4) No "usage" fees - Apparently, HELOC lenders don't approve of the notion that a homeowner may want to have a HELOC as an emergency "reserve" account. Definitely look for a lender that does not charge this type of fee.

5) Variable APR equal to or near the prime rate (adjusted quarterly) - Interest charged on the balanced borrowed should be the only cost involved with a good home equity credit line!

6) Periodic cap on interest rate changes (the amount that the rate can be changed at one time) - Look for a Home Equity Line of Credit that adjusts quarterly (rather than monthly) in increments of 0.5% or less.

7) Lifetime cap on rate increases (the amount that the rate can be adjusted over the loan's life) - You'll want to find a HELOC loan with a lifetime rate cap that you can live with. Ask your loan officer to clearly spell out the "worst case" scenario for HELOC rate increases!

8) Ability to convert to a fixed rate loan - When rates do rise, people often get skittish about their variable-rate debt. A useful feature to look for in a HELOC loan is the ability to convert the line of credit to a standard fixed-rate, fixed-term home equity loan.

9) Interest-only payments allowed - Get this option but only use it if you need to! It's always best to pay down the principle, not just interest!

10) Unrestricted ability to repay principal without penalty - You should be able to pay off the Home Equity Line of Credit at any time without paying extra!

Enjoy these ten basic tips and now, more than ever, be careful! There are a lot of shady deals out there and if you don't take your time reviewing the fine print, it will come back to bite you!

Serving Region of peel, its your Realtor Sham Pathania. Visit my website www.greatgtahomes.com for MLS listings and search MLS properties in your desired area.

If you have any questions related to real estate and if you are seeking an assistance in selling or buying a real estate property in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton,Oakville, Caledon, Etobicoke or anywhere in GTA area, you may conact me at 416-562-8417. Ask For a FREE complimentary market evaluaton of your property.

If you are looking for a house and you have a particular School in mind, you must look for these MLS listings with school information.

CONGRATULATIONS

This year our men in black, the Ontario Provincial Police are celebrating 100 years of patrolling Ontario and keeping us the residents safe. To all 8,900 employees we salute you and thank you for a century of hard work.

The general headquarters of the Ontario Provincial Police, known to us as the OPP, is located in Orillia Ontario Canada and has been since 1995. Here you also find an OPP Museum with all kinds of fascinating exhibits.

October 13, 1909 was the first day that the OPP was considered an active organization with 45 officers and 2 inspectors.

It wasn't until 1910 that the first uniforms were issued. 1922 saw the OPP using motorcycles to patrol the highways but by 1941 new black Chevy coupes replaced them, with radar technology added in 1954 and then breathalyzer systems in 1956.

Ontarians quickly became familiar with the black and white cars, but in keeping with the times in 1989 they were replaced with an all new white cruiser.

However, with a new chief onboard in 2007, the old familiar black and white cruiser was back on the highways replacing the white cruisers as the fleet was re-newed.

Eyes in the skies in the form of a Cessna 206 equipped with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit and camera system; hash marks on the pavement and cruisers on the shoulder were added as a new resource to its traffic management in 2008!

It took until 1974 before women were recruited to the force as police officers.

After a century of policing, the Ontario Provincial Police is one of North America's largest deployed police services with now more than 5,900 uniformed officers, 2,600 civilian employees plus 850 auxiliary members, serving a province with more than 12 million people, one million square kilometers of land, over 110,000 square kilometers of waterways and more than 130,000 kilometers of provincial highways.

You better tell no lies here because the OPP is considered a world leader in the field of forensic polygraphy.

To OUR men in black of the Ontario Provincial Police, who entertain us at community events with their Golden Helmet Precision Motorcycle Team, distinctive plaid tartan and Ontario Provincial Police Pipes & Drum band, as well as protect us, we offer you congratulations on your milestone, our true respect for your dedication and our heartfelt thanks.

It's time to let our clocks and ourselves "fall" back one hour. This year adjusting our clocks falls,on a great night to catch an extra hour of sleep. After all the excitement of Hallowe'en, ghosts and goblins, we get to enjoy an extra hour of slumber.

Back in 1918, Benjamin Franklin was the first to propose the voluntary use of Daylight Saving Time in various parts of the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the Uniform Time Act of 1966, to set standard beginning and ending dates for Daylight Saving Time across the United States.

Arizona and Hawaii don't adjust their clocks backwards or forwards twice a year.

We follow the same regulations here in Canada as well, springing our clocks ahead in March and letting them fall behind in November.

Wherever you live, this is also a great time to check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors as well!

Enjoying our extra zzzz's til March,

Do You Know What This Is?

If you answered a "hydro meter", you were partly right.

What the picture is, is actually a brand new SMART METER, that was installed at our house yesterday. Not just any old hydro meter, let us tell you.

The old meters could only measure the amount of electricity being used over an entire billing period. The new Smart Meter will record the total electricity consumption hour by hour. And it is capable of sending that information wirelessly to the utility company. This new meter makes time-of-use pricing possible.

They say by the end of 2010 that every home and small business in Ontario will be equipped with one of these meters. This meter will allow you to manage your power consumption. The goal is to get us to adjust our habits and use the power in off hours putting less demand on the system.

They have developed daily and seasonal time-of-use periods. The cost of using the power will depend when you use it. There are three different times of use: on peak, mid peak and off peak. By using power in the off-peak times you would be able to take full advantage of the best prices and also help the system by using the power when demand is at it's lowest. In general, weekends, holidays and the hours of 10 pm to 7 am on weekdays will be rated as off-peak times.

By setting your timers on your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer you will be helping yourself financially and at the time putting less strain on the power systems.

We all have to do our part to help Mother Earth, there are many ways of reducing our waste to put less strain on the enviroment. This Smart Meter will help all of us do our part.

To learn more ways of helping the enviroment, check out fellow rainer Chris Smith's recent blog.