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Changing Real Estate Market

If you are selling, and buying a more expensive property, you may be better off:
If you own a condo at $200,000 and want to buy a house for $400,000 ... and prices fall 10%.
Your condo will get $180,000 but the new home will only be $360,000. You are actually $20,000 ahead.

Nationally House Prices Are Down - A First Since January 1999

The average price of an existing home fell from $342,615 to $341,096 - a 0.4% decline.

Home prices declined on a year-over-year basis in Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria and Windsor-Essex. The largest decline of 2.6% was in Edmonton, the smallest in Windsor-Essex at 0.5 per cent.

Prices rose by 8% in Vancouver, 3.7% in Toronto, 4% in Montreal and 7% in Ottawa.

Markets with the greatest year-over-year decrease in unit sales in June:

Greater Vancouver - down 43%, Regina - down 34%, Saskatoon - down 33%, Victoria - down 24%

Markets with the greatest year-over-year increase in listings in June:

Saskatoon - up 49%, Sudbury - up 45%, Regina - up 41%, St. Catharines & District - up 21%

Major Point: The market has never been our only concern ... the deal we make in any market is the key. Some of the best deals come about in slower markets. However, when listings soar and sales fall sharply ... the news will affect buyers. In addition to the barrage of bad news out of the US, in Canada our buyer is noting that the government is concerned with low down payments and 40-year mortgage amortizations as well as a somewhat slowing economy and that will make him back off: "Martha, let's wait and see".

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