Home Trends from Ed Wang & Chris Wannamaker

THE W GROUP REAL ESTATE

Royal LePage Connect Realty

The holiday season is upon us! It’s time to cozy up with warm mugs of hot chocolate… or mulled wine! During this season of giving Ed and I have teamed up with friends and family to sponsor families that need a little more support this time of year through Holiday Helpers Canada. If you have the ability, we encourage you to give it a try as well – it’s not too late, and it feels great helping our neighbours, especially since we know this has been a challenging year for many. This year we will be hosting the Wannamakers for Christmas – our second year in a row since we moved into our home! Finalizing the menu has really put us into the holiday spirit and we are looking forward to delicious food, lots of board games, and quality time with family. As for the Toronto real estate market, in the continued effort to curb inflation, the Bank of Canada announced another rate increase on December 7th, this time increasing rates by another 50 basis points. The Bank of Canada has stated that they may slow further rate hikes, but more may be necessary, which we will likely see as we head into 2023. For buyers, if they can qualify for a mortgage, there is much less competition when it comes to bidding on properties, and it could be a good time to take advantage of softening prices in some sub-markets. They may have higher mortgage rates, but their purchase prices could be lower than in years past, something that they will be happy about when rates stabilize and even decrease in the coming years. Of course, deciding whether or not to purchase a property will depend on each buyer’s specific situation, as many people are feeling the crunch and have decided now is not the right time. For sellers, some properties are still seeing bidding wars and multiple offers, while others are taking more time to find the right buyer. We aren’t seeing too many distressed sales, but some investors are deciding to offload their investment properties due to cashflow worries. As always, please feel free to reach out to us any time to talk about the ever changing market or your situation. Happy Holidays from us to you and yours! Your Friends, Ed + Chris

Office: 416.588.8248 | www.wgrouprealestate.ca