August 2023 Newsletter
We hope your August was spectacular and filled with summer memories! We're delighted to share our latest newsletter, packed with insightful real estate updates and local news as we move into the colder months - read more below.
Welcome Charlene!
We are so excited to officially welcome Charlene Weber to the team! We are so happy to welcome another talented and driven agent to our team. Since joining us in August, Charlene has already helped a huge number of families in finding their dream homes. We can’t wait to see how she flourishes here!
New Purveyors’ Annual Pride Block Party
We hosted our New Purveyors’ Pride Block Party for the second year this August. We set up music, food, drinks, and activities at the office and watched the Pride Parade roll past. Our favourite part was when one of our agents, Stephany, actually rolled past on one of the floats! It was a ton of fun and we can’t wait to celebrate again next year.
Congratulations Jessy and Luke!
A huge congratulations to the newlyweds, Jessy and Luke Thompson! They tied the knot at a beautiful ceremony this month and welcomed the team to celebrate with them.
Inman Connect and NAR Leadership Week
Matt had an amazing time in mid-August, visiting Chicago and Las Vegas for Inman Connect and NAR Leadership Week. He attended a variety of great seminars and sessions, learning tons and then bringing back that insight for the team.
Real Estate News
Interested in hearing more from our agents about real estate? Let’s dive into some of our top blog posts this month:
How to Prepare for a Successful Open House
An open house is a great way to get some traffic on your listed property. From interested buyers to neighbours who may know someone on the market. every new set of eyes is setting you up for success! The better your home presents during the open house, the better chance it has to make a lasting impression on potential buyers. You can make sure your home shows well be elevating curb appeal. decluttering and depersonalizing your home, deep cleaning or hiring a cleaning service, updating paint
Negotiation Tactics for Buyers and Sellers
On either side of a real estate deal, good negotiation tactics can assist you in getting the best possible price and conditions. Our agents are well-equipped to support both sides of the deal. Sellers and agents can focus on things like strategic pricing, curb appeal, well-written descriptions, strategic responses to offers, and countering. Buyers and their agents can work on strategies like pre-approval and budgeting, understanding the state of the current market, evaluating home values before offering in order to understand their pricing strategy and evaluating crucial price points and conditions versus flexible ones.
Fall Home Improvement Ideas
Fall is on its way, with a cold breeze already in the air! We’ve compiled a list of home improvement ideas to work on before the season ends: deck and patio maintenance and repairs, garden cleanups, window and door inspections, and gutter cleaning are all on the must-do list, but we’ve included some fun ideas too like fall decor, fire pits, outdoor lighting, or updating your storage for back to school and boot season.
Neighbourhood Monthly Statistics
In August, OREB members sold 1196 residential properties - up 6% over last year. This is broken down into 903 freeholds (up 7% from the same period last year) and 293 condos (up 2% from the same period last year). However, these numbers are lower than the five-year average for August.
OREB President Ken Dekker explains that sales in August have increase year over year but still remain below historical averages. This can be attributed to strong demand entering the market through our growing population contrasted by the lack of suitable or affordable housing options and high borrowing costs.
Key figures:
Average Prices:
The average sale price for freehold-class properties in August was $709,739, a 0.5% increase from 2022 but a 5.6% decrease compared to July 2023.
Condominium-class properties had an average sale price of $425,968, a 1% increase from the previous year but 1.4% lower than July 2023.
Year-to-date average sale prices are $732,220 for freeholds (an 8% decrease from 2022) and $432,571 for condos (a 5.5% decrease from 2022).
Inventory and New Listings:
August's new listings totalled 2,228, a 7% increase from August 2022, and were on par with the previous month (2,234). The 5-year average for new listings in August is 2,177.
Months of Inventory for freehold-class properties increased to 3 months from 2.9 months in August 2022 and 2.7 months in July 2023.
Months of Inventory for condominium-class properties remained similar to August 2022 at 2.2 months, with a slight decrease from 2.3 months in July 2023.
Days on market (DOM) for freeholds increased to 31 days from 25 days in August 2022 and 26 days in July 2023.
DOM for condos increased to 29 days from 28 days in August 2022 and 28 days in July 2023.
Additionally, OREB members played a crucial role in assisting clients with rentals, helping with 4571 properties since the beginning of the year - an increase of 10% over the same period last year.
To learn more, check out our full blog post HERE
Pet of the Month
Meet Reese! Reese is one of our client’s dog, and he is pictured here enjoying a closing gift in his new home, given to him by an agent on the team.
Send us your pets for the chance to be featured next month!
