Does the title surprise you? Those of us with school-aged children are perhaps even more aware of the fact that the summer has not yet begun- as I write this it's officially the first day of summer. We've been lucky to have some early summer weather - unfortunately some Realtors are conducting their businesses as if they are already in a slower summer market. While summer markets do tend to level off naturally, as many families are vacationing and home hunting gets put lower on the priority list - make no mistake - There are buyers out there looking. I can tell you that within our offices the well-priced listings are still receiving multiple offers. Our local (Barrie & District) real estate board stats indicate that we are in fact up approx. 100 sales year to date, as compared to last year - sales this year in the month of May contributed largely. Interestingly, unit sales above the $250,000 price point are up this year, and unit sales below $250,000 are currently down (a reversal of 2009).
As you would expect, a slowdown in new home starts has been projected nationally for 2010. Aside from the obvious economic slowdowns contributing to this - the new HST costs added on to new home construction will also have an impact, certainly in Ontario. It will be interesting to see whether this has a positive effect on our resale market - particularily on the higher (over $400 K) priced new homes. Remember, there are several new and existing input tax credits to be taken advantage of when building a new home - check with your builder (schedule A) - check with your lawyer - check with your accountant - doing your homework could save you $$
Of course we are not HST experts - however, as real estate professionals - we need to be aware of these existing conditions and refer our clients to those who are experts, in order to serve their best interests.
'The only things for certain are Death and Taxes' -seems an even wiser saying these days doesn't it?
Corrie
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