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In May, Scotia Bank released the new housing trends for the 1st quarter of 2008. New figures show that the real estate market is cooling down after seeing phenomenal numbers in 2007. Resale of homes have fallen 15% which is down from last summer and the average resale home price in Canada had its first quarterly decline in the first quarter of 2008. Canada also saw a decline in residential building permits in comparison to last year and the inventory of unsold new homes are trending higher. S... Read Full Post

There are two levels to drawing in potential homebuyers: initially attracting their attention to the property through successful marketing and then favourably presenting the home. The first level is often a hurdle for owners of Toronto condos and houses wishing to sell their property as they are often unaware of how to effectively market their properties. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, it is good marketing that distinguishes a home from the hundreds of others on the market rather than a ... Read Full Post

I have found some very interesting housing data in a recent press release. When it comes to laying down roots, the proverbial debate of 'the city versus the suburbs' is likely to get a little more heated, as the majority of house prices in both Canada's major urban and suburban neighbourhoods were found to have nearly doubled over the past 10 years, with urban dwellings appreciating slightly more than their suburban counterparts, according to the Urban vs. Suburban Survey released by Royal Le... Read Full Post

In 1914, One King West was the capitol of the Dominion Bank (now part of Toronto Dominion - TD Bank). Crowds gawked as a team of horses hauled its 40-ton vault door to the site. Today, its original Art Nouveau splendor, gold leaf paintings, horsehair-stuffed leather chairs and even its caged vault - now a private dining room and bar - are part of this refurbished testament to conservative Canadian money management in the new gilded age. John Panagakos has lived - part-time living as he and ot... Read Full Post

My friends often ask me about which parts of Toronto are the most desirable for buyers. Well, many neighbourhoods are pretty sought after, but I have chosen just three to mention. The first would be Moore Park. Real estate data prove what people in Toronto's Moore Park know this is one of the most desirable places to live. There are many old houses here, many built between 1908 and 1930 and tend to being on the market shortly before being sold. Morre Park's safe streets and many schools appea... Read Full Post

1101 Bay St. has a hotel-sized lobby. On its walls are metal panels with art nouveau flowers, inside there is lots of light to flatter the thick pillars with gold straps. About 25 percent of the natives on this condo are students, many of them recent arrivals from China. While the students generally stay just four or five years, giving this condo a bit of a summer camp feel where people come and go frequently, there are many residents who’ve lived there for 10 and 20 years. Nina Pan, a musi... Read Full Post

Recently, I took a walk downtown Toronto, looking around the Bay Streeet neighbourhood. I wanted to learn more about a particular condo building. Let me share with you my impressions. Eleven 21 condos , at 1121 Bay opens its doors on this overcast day to reveal a shiny marble floor in the eye-shaped lobby. In the center of this eye is inlaid a black and orange sun. A wall of frosted glass bricks with raised wedge-like slashes arcs along one side of the oval entrance like an eyelid. Palestinia... Read Full Post

The options for mortgages available can be very confusing for most mortgage shoppers. Terms for mortgages vary between variable and fixed rate, 6-month terms to 10 year terms. Taking a variable or floating rate mortgage can have savings. Typically the shorter the term or guarantee of the rate, the lower the rate will be. This does not always happen, depending on the market place and the economy, but history has shown that short-term rates tend to be lower than long-term rates. The up side of ... Read Full Post

Bay Street has the same cache as Wall Street to a New Yorker. But staring down the avenue from its north end at Bloor Street, the vision is one of upright solid stone buildings set like standing grey dominos against the faded blue scalp of the sky. But like Torontonians, the street changes as you get to know it. Bloor Street, downtown Toronto’s main east-west strip divides most of the city’s 3 million residents into psychological east-siders or west-siders. Where Bloor meets Bay at its ce... Read Full Post

Guess what: our beloved Little House was advertised as being in Brooklyn! Dozens of would-be homeowners have flocked to a tree-lined block on Avenue T in Gravesend after receiving an e-mail with a bogus real estate posting, reads a Daily News article, saying that the house was offered for sale as Brooklyn's smallest. You can read this funny story here. Read Full Post