OREA loses real estate licensing education
The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has lost a bid to continue providing Ontario real estate licensing education after 2020, sources tell REM.
RECO senior communications officer Adam Hawkins would not confirm or deny the allegations, telling REM that he can’t say much about the RFP process other than to confirm that the process “is still ongoing.” Last week RECO posted a notice on its website that says, in part, that on Dec. 30, 2016, “RFP Proponents were advised of an extension to the RFP timeline and RECO anticipates that the RFP process will conclude no later than March 31, 2017.”

TREB Market Year in Review and 217 Outlook Forecast
GTA households still seemed upbeat about ownership housing. This included first-time buyers, whose share of overall buying intentions increased to 53 percent from 49 percent a year earlier. TREB’s point forecast for the average selling price is $825,000. Low-rise home types, including detached and semi-detached houses and townhouses, will experience the strongest annual rates of price growth, but the condominium apartment market segment will remain tight as well.

Toronto Real Estate Board foresees another year of double digit price increases
The Toronto Real Estate Board is expecting another year of double-digit price increases and a similar number of property sales to those last year. It says the average price for all types of housing is expected to rise to about $825,000 _ up from $730,472 in December and $729,922 for the 2016 calendar year.

TREB against LTT increase for repeat home buyers
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has released a statement following the City of Toronto’s Budget Committee decision not to currently move forward with proposed Land Transfer Tax (LTT) increases for first-time home buyers. In the statement, TREB expressed encouragement at the decision, however, it remains concerned about a proposal to increase the LTT by $750 for all other buyers and is also calling for changes that will assist first-time buyers.

Sold data ruling expected
The ongoing battle between the Toronto Real Estate Board and a popular real estate website may be nearing its conclusion. “The process continues and there’s no telling how long the three-judge panel will take to make their decision but normally it’s within two months,” Fraser Beach, an agent with Select/Plan Real Estate and the publisher of torealestatesold.com, told REP. “(Hearing within the next few weeks) would be my hope.”

First-time home buyers may get land transfer tax relief
First-time home buyers will be protected, but a recommendation to harmonize Toronto’s land transfer tax with the province’s rates will cost other residents an additional $750 to move house. On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, the city’s budget committee endorsed the harmonization but also increased the tax rebate to first-time homebuyers by $750 — to $4,475 from $3,725. The harmonization, which has still to be approved by the council, would mean $77 million more annually in land transfer tax for the city, according to a city manager’s report last fall.

OREA calls for affordable home ownership task force
In its 2017 pre-budget consultation, OREA recommended the creation of an Affordable Home Ownership Task Force to determine how the government can best improve housing supply and expand consumer choice.

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  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00 am and Thursdays at 7:00 pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register to please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events section.

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Toronto Real Estate Saw Condo Inventory Decline By 56% In December
The price of a condo dropped slightly in December. The average price across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) dropped to $440,669, a 0.65% decline from the month prior. This is still a 16.5% increase from the year prior, so I wouldn’t read too much into it…yet. Condos across the GTA had pretty close rates of appreciation across the GTA. In Toronto proper, aka the 416, the average price was $466,592. In the 905, the average price in December was $375,572. This represents an increase of 16.6% in the 416, and an increase of 15.5% in the 905 when compared to the same time last year.

How a foreign-buyer tax could make it even harder to find that elusive Toronto rental
Low vacancies are already fueling bidding wars over Toronto apartments, and a foreign-buyer tax could make rentals in the city even scarcer — and pricier. Shaun Hildebrand, vice president of Toronto-based condo analytics firm Urbanation, recently described how on BuzzTV. “If there is a foreign-buyer tax implemented in Toronto, it’s going to impact confidence,” said Hildebrand via Facebook Live this week. “If condo investors and foreign buyers hold back on buying new units, inevitably, yes, it’s going to restrict the inflow of new rental units into the marketplace.”

What would a Toronto real estate correction mean for other Ontario markets?
The shockwaves would be tied to what the CMHC housing agency calls “price spillover,” which occurs when high home prices in a certain market send buyers packing for cheaper municipalities. This has been most obvious in the pricey single-detached segment, which includes detached and semi-detached homes, CMHC says in its latest Housing Market Insight report.

TTC’s newest subway extension taking shape
At a media tour of the new Downsview Park station on Monday, TTC CEO Andy Byford emphasized that the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, a six-stop addition to Line 1 that is scheduled to open in December, will be state of the art.

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre transit terminal breaks ground
An inter-regional transit terminal has broken ground at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, the largest urban mixed-use development in Canada. The terminal, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, will serve York Region Rapid Transit’s bus network and have a pedestrian connection to the Viva Bus Rapid Transit line and the new terminal station on the Toronto Transit Commission’s extended Spadina subway line. Both the bus terminal and subway station are expected to open at the end of 2017.

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Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

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  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

Learn more about Realty Point

• Download our brochure
  Realty Point is the chosen real estate brokerage platform for top performing real estate agents in Ontario that are ready to open their own brokerage without the high expenses of competing franchise brands and staffing issues that increase costs and decrease your income. We can manage your brokerage back-end, from a one-person brokerage to handling a full brokerage of hundreds of agents at a per-transaction fee. Realty Point keeps your costs low and revenues high through our unique and innovative brokerage solution.

Toronto house sells for more than $1M over asking amid record year for home sales
The split-level home, located at 19 Talwood Dr. in the Lawrence Avenue East and Don Mills Road area, sold by Ecko Jay Realty Ltd Brokerage on Nov. 10 for $2,658,000 after being listed at a price of $1,488,800.

Toronto home sales set record in 2016 as purchases surge 11.8%
Toronto’s housing market just capped off a second straight record year of sales. Total purchases across the Greater Toronto Area rose 11.8 percent to 113,133 in 2016, with the dollar value of those transactions hitting $82,578,210,100. The average selling price across the GTA rose 20 percent in December on a year-over-year basis to $730,472 amid a dearth of inventory as total active listings plunged 48.1 percent.

Millennials flocking to Hamilton
According to a 2016 study by the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, there are now more millennials than baby boomers living in Hamilton, with millennials making up 27.58% of the city’s population — which is above the provincial average of 26.84%. It’s a shift that’s been happening in the past few years, with the city’s millennial population – people aged 20 to 34 – increasing 9.9% between 2011 and 2015, according to Statistics Canada. In comparison, Toronto has only seen an increase of 5.85%.

Desire for detached homes growing in Ontario, new research from OREA shows
In Toronto, where the supply of detached homes is at an all-time low, the demand is up 21 points from a year ago, with 50 percent of buyers saying they are likely to buy this housing type, according to the Ontario Home Ownership Index, OREA’s semi-annual consumer study conducted by Ipsos Reid.

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Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00 am and Thursdays at 7:00 pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register to please log in to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register to visit this page.

Learn more about Realty Point

• Download our brochure
  Realty Point is the chosen real estate brokerage platform for top-performing real estate agents in Ontario that are ready to open their own brokerage without the high expenses of competing for franchise brands and staffing issues that increase costs and decrease your income. We can manage your brokerage back-end, from a one-person brokerage to handling a full brokerage of hundreds of agents at a per-transaction fee. Realty Point keeps your costs low and revenues high through our unique and innovative brokerage solution.

GTA house goes for $400,000 over asking: ‘It was like a rock concert’
Despite its dated condition, the estate sale property, which sold on Monday for $1.1 million, attracted about 800 visitors over the course of three open houses — and 50 offers ahead of the designated offer presentation time.

Sale of the Week: The $770,000 house that shows the possible consequences of tighter mortgage rules
The federal government’s new, more restrictive mortgage rules came into effect just days after the house was listed, which may have made for a bumpy sale. There were 17 showings and three open houses, but just one offer. Although it was $8,000 under asking, the sellers liked the potential buyers enough to accept.

B.C. is desperate to keep its housing bubble aloft. It won’t work
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has defied economic wisdom, announcing on December 15 that her government will offer first-time homebuyers concessional loans of as much as $37,500 to help them enter the country’s most expensive housing market.

Average Of Detached Homes In Toronto Up Over $320k From Last Year
The average benchmark price for detached homes are up again across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The average of the whole GTA was up 2.3% to $1,058,273, which is more than 27% from last year at this time. While the whole region performed better than industry average, the City of Toronto outperformed the average of the rest of the TREB region. The 416 saw the detached benchmark average price rise to $1,345,962, a 3% increase over the past year. That works out to an increase of 32.3%, or $327,341 from the year prior. The 905 saw an average detatched go for $957,517 – a 25.5% increase over the past 12 months.

Home buyers optimistic about GTA real estate market, research finds
High prices and tighter lending conditions aren’t dampening consumers’ optimism and enthusiasm for real estate in the Toronto region, where half of homebuyers still expect to purchase that most expensive and elusive asset, a detached home. Even as the price of the average Toronto area detached home climbed to about $1 million this fall ($1.3 million in Toronto), half of buyers in the region say that’s the kind of house they expect to purchase, according to the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) Ontario Home Ownership Index being released last Tuesday.

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Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

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  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

Home prices jump 40 per cent in Vancouver — but no one is building
Toronto is also struggling with housing supply: The number of low-rise homes built last year in Canada’s financial hub was the lowest since 1995. The city is encircled by a green belt of almost 2 million acres that’s under permanent protection, and has experienced a price run-up similar to, though not as steep as, the one in Vancouver.

Hamilton’s Housing Market Set To Be The Hottest In Canada
Regional markets in proximity to Canada’s highest-price cities continue to experience steady interest from local move-up buyers and buyers from these cities (so-called “move-over” buyers), who are looking to find a balance between affordability and square footage. The top markets for year-over-year price increases in 2016 were Hamilton-Burlington (20 per cent), Fraser Valley, B.C. (20 per cent), Barrie, Ont. (16 per cent) and Kelowna, B.C. (14 per cent).

Toronto Real Estate Wasn’t Impacted By New Mortgage Rules In November
Another month, another 10k homes purchased in Toronto. This is a significant report, since it’s the first whole month reported by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) since the new mortgage rules. Surprisingly, the new rules that affected mostly first time buyers had no noticeable impact on real estate demand. The newest report from TREB showed prices continued to rise, new listings are growing at a relatively slow pace, and inventory is being absorbed at a very high rate.

Half of Canadians aged 18 to 34 own homes, but many are renting them out to afford housing costs
According to Mortgage Professionals Canada, which put the report together using data from various sources, including a survey of 2,000 Canadians, that’s become the “new normal” in the Canadian housing market. In fact, 34 per cent of recent first-time buyers believe it’s important to generate income from their properties. “Creating income remains a useful tool for first-time homebuyers,” said Paul Taylor, president of Mortgage Professionals Canada, in a press release accompanying the report. “People are looking for ways to make owning a home more affordable. Generating income allows them to reduce their mortgage more quickly.”

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Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

‘Danger Report’: Real estate pros fret court could break lock on secret sales data
Ross Kay claims a real estate agent handing over a few sold listings to a client is not the same as making the information widely accessible online. “What that means is that every single personal detail in a home’s listing would be available to any major corporation or bank to download” and to mine for data, says Kay who lives in Burlington, Ont.

Toronto home sales climb 16.5 per cent in November
In November 2016, Greater Toronto Area realtors reported 8,547 home sales through the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)’s MLS System, which is a 16.5 per cent increase compared to November 2015. In the GTA, sales were up on a year-over-year basis across all major home types. The strongest annual growth rates were experienced in townhouse and condominium apartment segments. Also read “GTA realtors move $6.6 billion worth of homes in November as prices soar“.

Foreign condo ownership down in Toronto? Former CMHC analyst disagrees, and here’s why
Shaun Hildebrand, senior vice president of Urbanation — and previously a senior market analyst for CMHC — says this year’s share of foreign-owned condos in Toronto “doesn’t seem unreasonable.” But he questions the drop, one he calls “alarming. It would imply a loss of nearly 3,000 foreign-owned condos over the course of a year,” Hildebrand calculates. “Where could they have gone?”

Average price for detached home in Toronto hits $1.35M as prices soar: real estate board
The Toronto-area real estate market continued to see strong sales volumes and higher prices in November. The Toronto Real Estate Board says there were 8,547 sales through its system last month, up 16.5 per cent from November 2015. The average selling price for all types of housing was $776,684, up 22.7 per cent over the same time last year, while the industry association’s home price index was up 20.3 per cent.

Stay up-to-date with all real estate news updated continually on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Realty Point Annual Celebration
  Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga (6435 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T1X4)
  All Realty Point agents are invited. Please contact your brokerage office for information
  Buffet dinner
  Entertainment & Music
  Realty Point Sales Award Presentation
  Networking & Mini-trade show
  Prizes, prizes prizes and a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic

  Login to your Agent Dashboard to register now. Tickets are extremely limited.
  Please ensure the office has your up-to-date sales to be considered for the Realty Point Sales Awards by November 15th, 2016.

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

Foreign ownership of condos down in big cities: CMHC
A report by CMHC says foreign ownership of condominiums in some of Canada’s largest cities has moved lower compared with last year. Foreign ownership was the highest in Vancouver and Toronto at 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. However, that was down from 3.5 per cent in Vancouver and 3.3 per cent in Toronto in 2015.

Ontario to increase land transfer tax rates
Ontario is increasing land transfer tax (LTT) rates on all types of real property for the first time since 1989. This change would be effective January 2017. Recently, the province’s Bill 70, The Building Ontario Up for Everyone Act (Budget Measures), 2016, received first reading on November 16, and highlights several changes to the Land Transfer Act (LTTA). For commercial, industrial and multi-residential properties, the tax rate will increase from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, for the portion of the consideration above $400,000. Due to a grandfathering clause, this hike would not apply to agreements of purchase and sale on or before November 14, 2016. For one or two single-family residences, a tax rate would increase from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent on the portion of the value of consideration above $2 million.

Toronto Condo Inventory Disappearing Over 60% Faster Than Last Year
TREB recorded an average selling price of $359,451 for a suburban condo. In the 416, the average price was $459,199. Both areas appreciated at an annual rate of 12.9%.

Why new GTA low-rise home prices fell $54,702 in October
The drop is a result of the mix of new homes that builders made available for buyers, says the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), a development industry group that releases monthly data from Altus Group. “Builders brought more semi-detached homes and townhomes to market in October than in previous months, and they are smaller and more affordable than single-detached homes,” says Bryan Tuckey, president and CEO of BILD, in a news release.

Here are the top buyer’s and seller’s real estate markets in Canada
At 103.73 per cent, Cambridge — about an hour and a half from Toronto via Highway 401 — boasts Canada’s highest sales-to-new listings ratio, widely considered a gauge of whether a market is balanced, or is in either buyer’s or seller’s territory. The ratio, expressed as a percentage, is calculated by dividing the number of sales in a given month by the number of listings that appeared on the market during that same period. A ratio between 40 and 60 per cent suggests a balanced market, while anything above indicates a seller’s market. Last month, the 10 highest ratios (including Cambridge’s) were in Ontario. The others were Guelph and Woodstock-Ingersoll, both with ratios in the low 90s, as well as Northhumberland Hills, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kawartha Lakes, Oakville-Milton, Hamilton Burlington, Niagara Falls-Fort Erie, and Welland, which ranged from the high to low 80s.

Vancouver approves empty homes tax
Most Vancouver homeowners, including snowbirds, will not have to pay the Empty Homes Tax. Principal residences — whether of the registered owner or his/her family member— are not subject to the tax, nor are properties that are rented for six months of the year or more, in periods of at least 30 consecutive days.

Going to extremes to sell a house: How far is too far?
Forget the Tim’s gift cards, Air Miles and freshly baked cookies at open houses. Real estate agents are going to extreme lengths to sell homes. Sleepovers are becoming a popular trend. Giving a prospective buyer the chance to spend a night in a house they are debating purchasing gives them an authentic feel for what it would be like to live there. A bottle of wine and a box of snacks make the night even better. Touring a home for an hour or two and taking photos is great but nothing beats sleeping in a place to get a true picture. This is the ultimate “try before you buy” example.

Stay up-to-date with all real estate news updated continually on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Realty Point Annual Celebration
  Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga (6435 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T1X4)
  All Realty Point agents are invited. Please contact your brokerage office for information
  Buffet dinner
  Entertainment & Music
  Realty Point Sales Award Presentation
  Networking & Mini-trade show
  Prizes, prizes prizes and a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic

  Login to your Agent Dashboard to register now. Tickets are extremely limited.
  Please ensure the office has your up-to-date sales to be considered for the Realty Point Sales Awards by November 15th, 2016.

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

New GTA home prices ease as supply ticks higher
The Greater Toronto Area saw a slight increase in the supply and mix of new homes in October while average prices declined slightly, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has announced. For the low-rise sector, including detached, semi-detached and townhomes, the average price was $937,689, down around $54k from September but still 17 per cent above October 2015. Average price per square foot was up slightly from September at $394. Meanwhile, high-rise home prices also eased compared to a month earlier, to an average $483,656 which is 10 per cent above October 2015. Average price per square foot was $594, again down from September but up compared to a year earlier.

Indicators of Money Laundering in Financial Transactions Related to Real Estate (PDF)
FINTRAC provides indicators of money laundering in real estate in order to support all relevant reporting entities in meeting their obligations to report on suspicious financial transactions or attempted financial transactions.

BC Foreign Buyer Tax Might Actually Cost Canadian Taxpayers Billions
BC might not have the ability to tax foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver, according to the filed Notice of Civil Claim. Luciana Brasil, a partner at the firm Branch MacMaster representing the plaintiff, told us recently that “the central allegation of the lawsuit is that the province does not have the authority to create and levy this tax. We argue that it intrudes upon an area of federal jurisdiction and contradicts obligations the federal government has made to over 30 countries regarding the treatment of their nationals.”

These figures suggest just how much immigration drives Canadian housing demand
While those new to Canada don’t generally make the leap into homeownership right away, notes Scotiabank Economist Adrienne Warner, sooner or later most do. “New immigrants typically first choose rental accommodations, but eventually have homeownership rates similar to Canadian-born residents,” Warren explains in the bank’s latest Global Real Estate Trends Report.

Regulators should explore boosting minimum down payment on homes: CMHC
Evan Siddall, president and CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said in a speech at the Bank of England’s offices in London that increasing the minimum down payment even further could help offset the effects of rock-bottom interest rates, which have encouraged borrowers to take on excessive mortgage debt.

Here’s how much Canadian home prices could plummet in 5 stress test scenarios
“Stress testing involves searching out extreme scenarios that have a very remote chance of happening and planning for them,” says Romy Bowers, CMHC’s chief risk officer. A surge in interest rates resulting in higher borrowing costs and the failure of at least one Canadian financial institution could mow down home prices by 30 per cent, CMHC estimates in results published last Thursday.

Stay up-to-date with all real estate news updated continually on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Realty Point Annual Celebration
  Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga (6435 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T1X4)
  All Realty Point agents are invited. Please contact your brokerage office for information
  Buffet dinner
  Entertainment & Music
  Realty Point Sales Award Presentation
  Networking & Mini-trade show
  Prizes, prizes prizes and a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic

  Login to your Agent Dashboard to register now. Tickets are extremely limited. Guaranteed registration ends Friday November 18 at 3:00pm.
  Please ensure the office has your up-to-date sales to be considered for the Realty Point Sales Awards by November 15th, 2016.

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.

Home Prices Up Over 50% In GTA’s Hottest Neighbourhoods
Rural Markham tops the list at 77%, the top 5 neighbourhoods have appreciated more than 50% year over year while the bottom five have appreciated in the 44-47% range. Five out of the top ten neighbourhoods are in Markham, four are in Toronto and one is in Oshawa.

Ontario gives rebates to first-time buyers, penalizes wealthy and leaves out foreigners
First-time homebuyers’ break on the land transfer tax will double under a new proposal by the Ontario government, but wealthy purchasers will pay the price once new land transfer rules come into effect Jan. 1, 2017. Absent from changes announced Monday to land transfer fees in the country’s most populous province is any mention of an increase in the amount charged to foreign buyers, who now face an additional 15 per cent tax in Vancouver.

Toronto making a big push for more laneway housing
Ward 32 Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon and Ward 18 Councillor Ana Bailão are working together on bringing laneway suites to Toronto. These are detached units located behind more traditional properties and help to transform empty or underused spaces, such as a garage, shed or parking pad.

Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales hit record last month
There were 42,473 residential properties sold last month through the association’s Multiple Listing Service, up two per cent year-over-year. Sales were up from October 2015 levels in about 60 per cent of all Canadian markets, with gains in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding communities, though that was offset by declines in B.C.’s Lower Mainland. The actual national average price for a home sold in October was $481,994, up 5.9 per cent compared with a year ago. Excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, the average price was $361,012.

Demand For Detached Homes In Toronto Up 27% From Last Year
Detached homes in Toronto got a little bit further out of reach in October. According to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)’s latest numbers, prices rose, they’re selling above ask, and demand for them was much higher than last year at this time.

What economists say about Ontario offering bigger tax rebates to first-time homebuyers
Prominent economists are weighing in on Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s announcement today that the province plans to rise the maximum land transfer tax rebate for first-time homebuyers to $4,000, up from its current $2,000 level.

What’s in store for Canadian real estate in 2017?
We have the answers to all your investment questions in our Property Forecast Guide — the industry’s very own crystal ball, which will appear in the January issue of CREW.

Stay up-to-date with all real estate news updated continually on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Realty Point Seminars

• Realty Point Annual Celebration
  Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga (6435 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T1X4)
  All Realty Point agents are invited. Please contact your brokerage office for information
  Buffet dinner
  Entertainment & Music
  Realty Point Sales Award Presentation
  Networking & Mini-trade show
  Prizes, prizes prizes and a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic

  Login to your Agent Dashboard to register now. Tickets are extremely limited. Guaranteed registration ends Friday November 18 at 3:00pm.
  Please ensure the office has your up-to-date sales to be considered for the Realty Point Sales Awards by November 15th, 2016.

• Agent Training Webinars
  New Agent training courses have been added and scheduled for you on Tuesdays at 11:00am and Thursdays at 7:00pm. Regular topics include using the Agent CRM and learning how to create a website in your Agent Dashboard. These webinars are available online only, for more information and to register please login to your Agent Dashboard and visit the Office Events Section.

More information about upcoming seminars and to register visit this page.