Category: Blog

Contrary to the general perception of property prices stalling, and even going down, Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB)’s sales report for July 2021, portrays a different picture.

It shows shrinkage in inventory and overall sales but also a continuous upward trend of the sales prices.

While the total number of house sales was down by 14.9%, compared to the same month last year, and 2% fewer sales compared to last month, the year over year price, comparing the same months, went up by 12.9%.

The sales price continued its rise by .9% comparing with the last month that is June 2021.

It is important to note that the number of new listings coming into the market was notably down by 30.7% compared to the same month last year.

With the tight inventory, sales went up by 14% for the new listings in the market.

It appears that the tight inventory also pushed the buyers to make quick decisions so the average days for a listing to remain in the market went significantly down by 20%. The speed of house sales also increased by 11.8% compared with the last month taking fewer days to sell the property.

Once again contrary to the general perception, the Condominium sales saw a whopping increase of 155% compared to last year. The average selling price also continued its upward trajectory by a 10.8% increase.

There were 14,437 new listings of Condominiums in the market a notable 64.6% increase.

While there were more new listings in the market so were the sales of the listing up by 22%.

It took 13 days compared to 19 days in the same period of last year, a reduction of 31.6% for a condominium to sell out.

The Condominium Rental market saw a doubling of leased condos, a 104.4% increase.

While the Condo leases were high the average rental value of 1 bedroom apartment decreased by 9.4%.

There were a lesser number of apartments brought in the market, a 12.8% decrease.  

I am always available to discuss further and find the best solution for your requirements and situation whether you are planning to buy or sell or both to move to a bigger house or downsizing.

There is always a better solution a professional can provide, sometimes beyond your thoughts.

I will be glad to receive your call at your earliest convenience at 416-908-5600.

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you found this review helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly leave a Google Review for my real estate services at

A. Q. Mufti Google Review

Thank you for your continued support!

A. Q. Mufti

Your Trusted Realtor in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and beyond.

We are in the midst of the Election season in Canada. While every party brings in new promises with their platform, I will keep you informed of any of their announcements that may affect your Real Estate plans, hopefully positively.

Considering ever-increasing housing prices, the Liberal Party of Canada today announced an ambitious plan to help homebuyers, especially the young first-time homebuyers.

It calls the program “A home for everyone”.

According to the announcement, the renters could see a gamechanger with the government-backed Rent-To-own plan.

• The Liberal government is promising to commit a billion dollars in the forms of loans and grants to private, not-for-profit, and co-op partners, paving the way for homeownership in five or fewer years.
• The new program will allow the young Canadians to save up to $40K and withdraw it tax-free towards the down payment of their first home. Moreover, unlike RRSPs, one does not have to repay ever.
• The program will double the first-time home-buyers tax credit to $10,000.
• It would reduce CMHC mortgage insurance by 25%, reducing the monthly mortgage payments.
• Another option offered for first-time homebuyers is a deferred mortgage loan as an alternative to the shared equity option, already offered by the Liberal government. For details on that offering please read my Blog-post at https://www.aqmuftirealty.com/node/1018158
• There are many more incentives announced by the Liberal Party of Canada to make home-buying easier than it is now. For further details, please go to the Liberal Party of Canada’s website at https://liberal.ca/our-plan/a-home-for-everyone-liberals-move-forward-with-a-new-housing-plan/
  
  

I am always available to discuss further and find the best solution for your requirements and situation whether you are planning to buy or sell or both to move to a bigger house or downsizing.

There is always a better solution a professional can provide, sometimes beyond your thoughts.

I will be glad to receive your call at your earliest convenience at 416-908-5600.

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you found this review helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly leave a Google Review for my real estate services at

A. Q. Mufti Google Review

Thank you for your continued support!

A. Q. Mufti

Your Trusted Realtor in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and beyond.

I promised yesterday, during Canada election season, I will keep you informed of any of the announcements by the political parties that may affect your Real Estate plans, hopefully positively.

So, I wrote the blog on Liberal’s announcement on the housing plan yesterday and today I am sharing NDP’s plan with you.

While Liberal’s plan got into more details and gave numbers and how they would achieve their plan, NDP’s statement spends more space in describing the housing shortage and its affordability in length, there are few details on the dollar numbers and how their plan would work.

One important suggestion they are proposing is what I have been saying for many years, perhaps someone made the effort to convey my suggestion to the policymakers in NDP.

The suggestion of increasing the Amortization period to 30 years would bring relief to many, as it would reduce the monthly payments and may qualify more people to be eligible for a housing loan.

While it sounds good for the time, one should keep in mind that, with a traditional loan, the interest would increase, and it would take longer to repay the loan.

But it may not affect many as anyone paying 20% or more of down-payment already has the option for a 30-year amortization and the majority of people tend to opt for the longer period, to reduce the monthly payments.

I am always available to discuss further and find the best solution for your requirements and situation whether you are planning to buy or sell or both to move to a bigger house or downsizing.

There is always a better solution a professional can provide, sometimes beyond your thoughts.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your unique needs and goals, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 416-908-5600. I’m here to help you find the perfect, tailor-made solution.

If you found this review helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly leave a Google Review for my real estate services at

A. Q. Mufti Google Review

Thank you for your continued support!

A. Q. Mufti

Your Trusted Realtor in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and beyond.

The real estate market has been on steroids for the past almost a year, mostly due to supply and demand but also blind multiple-offering put fire on the fuel.

But with the recent unprecedented rate hike by the Bank of Canada to fight the rising inflation, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is on course to adjust itself.

Let us look at the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB)’s latest sales report for April 2022 and see how it reflects the sentiments of the market.

The market saw a major decline in the number of real estate transactions as much as it reduced by over 41% compared to the same month a year earlier. Compared with the previous month, February 2022, the number of transactions was reduced by over 26%.

While the number of transactions saw a steep decline it is interesting to note that the average Selling price still maintained a 15% rise, compared with last year. While compared with last month, February 2022, the average Selling price showed a 6.4% decline. Beyond this report, the average Selling price reported by the Realtors is seeing a continuous decline in May 2022.

As a result of declining prices, Sellers are holding off the new listings resulting in an almost 12% decline in the new listings coming to market, compared with last year.

The sales-to-new-listing ratio also saw a visible decline of 22% compared to last year. It is interesting though the time to remain in the market for the listings remained unchanged from the last year.

It is very interesting though that the residential Condo sales declined by 15.6% while the Average Sales price rose by 22.4% compared to last year.

The listings remained almost unchanged; Sales-to-new-listing ratio declined by 14%. It also saw a significant reduction in the number of days Condo listings remained in the market by almost 49%, from 23 days to 12 days, compared with last year.

The Condo Rental market saw over 23% reduction in the total number of apartments being leased while the listing was reduced by over 42% and most likely resulted in the One-bedroom apartment rent increase by 18%.

The Commercial sector saw a decline both in Leasing and Sales of commercial properties by 27.5% and 12.4% respectively.

Interestingly, the average Industrial lease rate jumped by 18.4%, the Commercial/Retail lease rate saw a whopping 28.3% increase, while the Office lease rate reduced by 2.4%.

I will be writing soon on the latest trends in the market and where we are heading in the short and long term.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your unique needs and goals, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 416-908-5600. I’m here to help you find the perfect, tailor-made solution.

If you found this review helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly leave a Google Review for my real estate services at

A. Q. Mufti Google Review

Thank you for your continued support!

A. Q. Mufti

Your Trusted Realtor in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and beyond.

Dec 21, 2020 – One-minute read

Real Estate remains an Essential Service recognized by the province of Ontario

Considering the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and recent spikes in COVID-19 infections the Ontario government has made the expected announcement of a province-wide shutdown, which will begin on Saturday, December 26, 2020. This time not only Toronto, Peel, York, Ottawa but the shutdown will be in effect for the entire province until at least January 9, 2021. Considering the high numbers in the GTA and the surrounding areas the shutdown would continue to last until January 23, 2021, in southern Ontario.

Under the new shutdown rules, in-person open houses are prohibited, but showings by appointment would continue to be possible by appointment only. Only two members of a family can visit the property with their Real Estate agent.

Even though in-person showings are permitted, please make use of the technology, visit the virtual tours, and narrow down your choice/s before making the plan to visit the property.

If you are a Buyer:

While going for property visit/s follow all the COVID-19 protocols strictly:

• Remember a maximum of two persons per visit are allowed
• Wear masks always during the visit
• Wear gloves
• Preferably wear booties on top of your shoes
• Sanitize hands before entering and leaving the premises
• Do not touch anything on the property
• On your return, wash your hands thoroughly with soap

If you are a Seller:

Discuss thoroughly with your Realtor and have a plan in place for the showings of your property to prospective Buyers. Your Real Estate Agent would discuss and update you about the entire process.

Your Realtor will be constantly in touch with you to give you updates on the visits and would ask about the health of you and your family members. Immediately inform your Realtor in case any member of your family’s health conditions change.  

Please follow all the COVID-19 protocols strictly yourself.

Your Realtor would arrange to have:

• Hand sanitizer placed on a table next to the entrance
• COVID-19 protocols are printed and displayed
• Reminder to wear masks always during the visit
• Instruction to not use washrooms
• Instructions displayed include to sign the registration sheet or leave the Realtor’s business card

The new shutdown rules are more restrictive than we are used to so be aware of these rules which include but are not limited to:

• Social gatherings, personal visits, indoor public events are all restricted.
• Only persons who are living together except for the people living alone can choose to have one other household to be their exclusive contact.
• Most retail stores would have curbside pickup and deliveries.
• Big box stores and exclusive grocery stores would be operating under a restricted number of people inside the store at a time rule.

For more detailed information under new lockdown rules by the province of Ontario please visit https://files.ontario.ca/moh-provincewide-shutdown-en-2020-12-21.pdf

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you like what you read, I will ask you to leave your gracious Google Review at:

If you live in the Region of Peel and have been facing rat infestation issues, there is good news for you,  you can receive up to $200 from the Region.

The Peel Region has started a pilot project to help the residents to combat the rat infestation. The region says:

“The Residential Rat Control Subsidy Pilot Program helps residents with the costs to improve rat issues on the exterior of their residential properties. Interior issues are not eligible for subsidy.

The program reimburses eligible residents for 50% of the cost in hiring of Region of Peel approved pest control vendor up to a maximum of $200 per calendar year per residential Peel address.

The program has been extended until November 30, 2022.”

Here is the link for further details and the attached brochure for the same program:

https://peelregion.ca/rat-subsidy-program

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your unique needs and goals, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 416-908-5600. I’m here to help you find the perfect, tailor-made solution.

If you found this review helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly leave a Google Review for my real estate services at

A. Q. Mufti Google Review

Thank you for your continued support!

A. Q. Mufti

Your Trusted Realtor in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and beyond.

Jan 9, 2021

The Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) has released the monthly sales figures for December 2020.

A trend that was set after a month into the COVID-19 pandemic continues its steam in the last month of 2020, both in home sales and prices, that sees no stoppage soon.

Looks like gone are the days when home appreciation used to be in single-digit increments year over year. The latest trend seems to become a norm as double-digit upward growth in home sales and prices.

The home sales in December went up a record-breaking 64.5% compared to the same month last year. This added over 22% number of residences sold compared with last month, November 2020.

Similarly, the Average Home Sales price went up 11.2% in a year, compared with the same month in 2019. It added a 1% increase from last month of November 2020.

Even though over 66.1% of new listings hit the market, it remained 14.6% fewer days in the market compared to last year.

The new listing time saw a reduction in time to sell the property by 17.2% fewer days as compared to the last month.

Interestingly, the Condominium market saw a negative trend in contrast to house sales and prices.

This change is a result of new realities of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and the way we socialize and work.

Since the majority of people have started working from home and don’t need to commute downtown, the new trend is to look for out of downtown core for places to live.

We saw 84.6%, almost doubling, the new condo listings coming to market, we saw a reduction in sales by 27%, compared to Q3 in last year.

Interestingly, despite the fact there were more new listings, there were fewer sales, still, the overall prices of Condos kept the upward trend by 8.3% in the Q3 compared to last year.

The condo market was hit hard in the rental market by seeing a reduction of more than 11% in monthly rent.  

With the development and availability of vaccines, one can hope to see life heading towards normalcy in the latter half of this year.

Looking at all those immigrant files which were held up due to the pandemic would be getting processed at a faster rate.

The government of Canada has already announced that we are aiming to have almost half a million new immigrants coming to Canada each year for the next three years.

Banks are offering historic low rates and it does not look like changing in the near foreseeable future.

These are not one but many factors that look like would keep driving the home prices further higher and higher up.

In short, it seems like if today’s prices, even though may seem high, would put a smile on the face of those who would have invested in Real Estate today.

Please see the attachment for the infographic from TRREB.

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you like what you read, I will ask you to leave your gracious Google Review at:

A. Q. Mufti

Jan 13, 2021

As you have read my analysis of The Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB)’s monthly sales report for December 2020, here is an interesting report from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Economics division.

The bank put the heading of the report as “Canada’s housing market headed for another record year in 2021”.

The report’s salient points outlined are:

• We expect solid price momentum to be sustained in 2021 with a nationwide gain of 8.4%
• Price trends to stay firm in most regions of the country
• Low available supply is the main reason property values will continue to go up

• We project home resales to be the strongest ever in Canada in 2021, reaching 588,300 units
• Some moderation will set in over the course of the year, however, in part due to supply constraints

Click on the link below to read the full report:

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you like what you read, I will ask you to leave your gracious Google Review at:

A. Q. Mufti

March 5, 2021

CMHC’s report in May 2020 rang alarm bells by forecasting a crash of the Real Estate market by residential home prices tanking up to 29%.

It raised many questions in the minds of would-be homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers. It prompted an immediate rebuke by experts from major Real Estate companies, including RE/MAX, challenging the authenticity of CMHC’s approach.

After watching a continued hot-hot Real Estate market throughout the year, CMHC reversed their forecast for an increase in housing prices instead of a drastic drop previously claimed and stood by it for so long.

Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB)’s latest sales report reflects record-breaking sales and continued uptrend of house prices.

It reported a whopping 52.5% increase in Real Estate transactions in February 2021, compared with the same period from the previous year, 2020.

While comparing with last month, January 2021, a jump of 16% sales are recorded.

Simply putting a double increase in Housing prices does not justifiably reflect a 15% price jump compared with a year ago.

The upward trend in housing prices continues to grow as February saw a further uptick of 2.3% compared with January of this year.

Even though we saw a tremendous number of new listings, up by 43% from last year, there were 3% more sales per number of listings compared with last year.

With multiple offers on almost every property in the market, the property remained 17.4% less on the market compared with the same period last year.

The situation is even tighter compared with last month where the properties further reduced the number of days, 18% fewer days, to sell.

Although Detached, Semi-detached and Town Houses pushed these figures high, the condominium apartment sector recorded a mammoth 64% sales increase compared to last year, both in the ‘416’ and ‘905’ area codes.

In summary, historic low mortgage rates, tightening supply and demand scenario, and opening of markets soon are all indicators pointing to further increase in house prices and not looking back.

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you like what you read, I will ask you to leave your gracious Google Review at:

A. Q. Mufti

Please see TRREB’s Housing Charts for further details

March 31, 2021

As a Realtor, I have been listening to my clients’ concerns and trying to find solutions.

Among the many factors for incredibly rising house prices in Ontario, especially in and around GTA, one major contributor could be the blind-bidding process.

In many cases, we see the Asking price being much below the actual market value that creates competition among the buyers. Since no one knows what the other offers are, everyone tries to make the best and highest offer. Eventually, the house Sold price is much higher than the asking price, sometimes hundreds of thousands more.

In the end, the Selling agent proudly posts that he/she was able to sell it that much higher than the asking price, which was already below market value.

Such practice is not good even for the Realtors, as their buyer clients get frustrated after losing several attempts to buy a house for themselves.

It also gives rise to incorrect stats reporting the difference between the asking and selling price.

You may click on the link at the end to see a Globe and Mail article referring to a BMO report calling on the policymakers to take necessary actions to cool off the housing market.

This false competition is not good for the market and eventually gives reasons for calls for the government to take some serious actions.
 

We have been hearing recent talks about laying a capital-gain tax on a principal residence, which is exempt from such tax.

Such a tax would be a disaster for everyone, especially for seniors who heavily rely on their biggest asset in life, their home.

A one-sided housing market, either sellers’ market or buyers’ market, is not good for anyone. An ideal market is a balanced market for all, including buyers and sellers as well as the Realtors.

I hope my fellow Realtors would think long-term and help educate their clients and bring about a level field for everyone.

Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.

Please pray for the safety of all and seeing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic soon.

#BeSafeAndHelpOthersBeSafe

If you like what you read, I will ask you to leave your gracious Google Review at:

A. Q. Mufti

Globe and Mail article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bmo-report-calls-on-policymakers-to-douse-the-fire-on-rapidly-rising/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links