Greater Toronto home prices jumped in September as buyers appeared to put an end to a slump that began in the spring with government measures to cool a scorching real-estate market. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) said the average GTA home sold for $775,546 in September, up 5.9 per cent from August’s average of $732,292. Prices were up 2.6 per cent compared with September last year, but remain 15.8-per-cent lower than they were at the market’s peak in April before the downturn began. The market recovery last month was driven primarily by buoyant sales of detached houses in the…
Top 5 Home Renovations for Your Money in 2017
After a definite slump over the previous decade, the housing market is on a path to recovery. Housing prices are on the rise, and home equity has nearly recovered. Existing home sales are also on an uptrend. All of this is good news if you’re a homeowner thinking of plunging some money into your home with an eye toward resale value down the road. But not all home renovation projects are equal. In fact, few of them even come close to recouping their costs when it’s time to sell your home. The average home renovation returns just 65 percent at sales time – and…
How to Stay On Top of Home Renovation Costs
As many as 56 per cent of Canadians embarking on renovations are choosing to stay in place instead of selling their home, according to a recent poll. A recent CIBC poll found that 61 per cent of people planning to renovate admit they don’t have a detailed budget. (DREAMSTIME) Christine Davies and her husband were in their east-end Toronto home for about six years before deciding to pull the trigger on a massive renovation. With two young children and a house “literally falling apart,” Davies says, the couple needed an upgrade but didn’t want to move up in the city’s pumped-up…
Housing Prices Prompt Canadian Homeowners to Renovate Instead of Buying a New Home
A poll released by CIBC reveals that Canadian homeowners are renovating their properties to stave off buying new homes. Almost 50 per cent of Canadians are planning to repair or improve their home this year, up from 37 per cent in 2016. Of those choosing to renovate, over half are doing so to avoid jumping into Canada’s tumultuous housing market. “One of the interesting things that was found in the CIBC poll is that particularly in the GTA, some of the Canadians who really felt that they wanted to choose to stay in their home wanted to renovate as opposed to jumping into the housing market. More than…
10 Things to Do Before the Renovation Begins
An article by: Laura Gaskill With workers traipsing in and out of your living space, dust and dirt everywhere, and entire areas of your home unusable for the duration, home remodeling projects can be extremely disruptive to daily life. But a little smart planning ahead of time can make things run more smoothly. Here are 10 items to tick off your list before the chaos begins, for a safer and (slightly) less intrusive renovation. 1. Pare down and pack up. Go through the room(s) that will be part of the remodel and pare back to the essentials. When you must…