■This Month in Real Estate | January 2016

■Real Estate Investment Seminar

Add real estate as an asset class to diversify your portfolio and earn 8% fixed interest with your principal secured against real estate! We invite you and your guests to join us on Tuesday February 16^th to learn more about opportunities to invest directly in the Canadian real estate market.

Date:
February 16th, 2016

Time:
6:30p.m. Hors d’oeuvres
7:00p.m. Presentation

Location:
Keller Williams Advantage Realty (1238 Queen St E. Toronto ON M4L 1C3)

Hosted by: Colleen MacKay (Mortgage Agent #M14001027)

RSVP:
Nat@NatSmilis.ca

The deadline of RRSP contribution is rapidly approaching. All of her investments are RSP and TFSA eligible. See you all there!

Presented by: FMP Mortgage Investments Inc.

FMP Mortgage Investments Inc. (FSCO Licence #12373) offers consumers the opportunity to invest in syndicate mortgages by becoming a lender in Fortress Real Developments projects. All syndicate mortgage transactions are closed by Centro Mortgage Inc. (FSCO Lic #10102) unless specifically noted otherwise. Please speak with a licensed mortgage agent/broker for more details.

■Market Watch-January, 2016

Record TREB MLS® Home Sales in 2015

January 6, 2016 -- The second best sales result on record for December capped off a record year for TREB MLS® home sales in the GTA. Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced that there were 4,945 sales reported in December bringing the 2015 calendar year total to 101,299 – a substantial 9.2 per cent increase compared to 2014 as a whole. Strong annual sales increases were experienced for all major home types last year.

"Home ownership is a quality long-term investment that families can live in while the value increases over time. A relatively strong regional economy in the GTA coupled with low borrowing costs kept a record number of households – first-time buyers and existing homeowners alike – confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term," said Mr. McLean.

"If the market had benefitted from more listings, the 2015 sales total would have been greater. As it stands, we begin 2016 with a substantial amount of pent-up demand," continued Mr. McLean.

The average selling price for 2015 as a whole was $622,217 – up 9.8 per cent compared to $566,624 in 2014. The MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark Price was up by a similar annual rate of 10 per cent in December. GTA home price growth was driven by the low-rise segments of the market, but condominium apartment price growth was generally well-above the rate of inflation as well through 2015.

"TREB will release its official 2016 outlook later in January, but suffice to say that the demand for ownership housing is expected to remain very strong in 2016. Despite stricter mortgage lending guidelines and the possibility of slightly higher borrowing costs, on average, there will be many buyers who remain upbeat on the purchase of ownership housing," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis.