First, we have the talk of the new commission structure. Most agents don't seem very concerned in the least. They look to the U.S. where homeowners have been offered discount brokerage/menju options for years now. It penetrated approx 3% of that market and this is before the housing crisis.
I've had top realtors in the city tell me that for an experiment they've spiced things up in their farm area and offered terribly low commissions and the phone calls and interest changed little.
Much as the public doesn't like paying the commission, its a sunk cost that sellers build into the pricing of their home and its equitable in that when they go to purchase a house they watch the sellers this time pay the commission out. It's an itch that gets scratched. Perhaps, like watching the Leafs no matter how awful a season its now turned into.
New home construction readings fell today. So the arguement may go that now there are fewere homes and some who would have looked at new construction will focus on the inventory of resale properties. Thus, the supply of homes will decrease and hence as the demand side goes..prices should stabilize if not rise.
This of course may be squashed by increasing rates tho with a dollar as high as it sits today and little inflation worries, it seems apparent that the rates may sit low for some time, helpping to prop up the prices of homes yet again.
What may disrupt the upward movement in prices may be the desire for Canadians with ever high household debt to become net savers and pay down theirt balance sheets making do with their current residence, though Canadians are comfortable with having mortages.
Klump from the CREA sounds like hes counting on a slower inventory year in 2011.
I suppose we have some news to sort thru in the US, commodity prices, deflation vs inflation and consumer confidence will all work their way into the housing market.
For the time being, inventory is low so in good areas we're seeing prices remaining quite high.
Best advice: get a strong agent, stay on top of the market and lock in rates with a preapproval.
If you have any questions I can help you with, don't hesitate to call or email. I still believe the site I've pieced together should be a great starting point for newcomers and those who haven't been in the game for some time.
But I'm always available.
Best,
Michael Gruenstein MBA CSC
http://www.TheSmithsBuyAHouse.com
http://www.PropertiesintheGTA.ca
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