Vanessa Roman – Toronto Sun

For my children, the end of the year has only one focus: the holidays! Everything from decorating the Christmas tree and helping make batches of shortbread cookies, to spending time volunteering at their school for breakfast program and of course waiting for Jolly Ol’ St. Nick and his merry band of roof-trotting reindeer to make an appearance on the 25th.

Like many of you, the last thing on their minds is buying and selling real estate. But is that a good thing?

Timing is everything and this is especially true when navigating the proverbial property ladder. The adages about knowing which time is right are endless; the early bird gets the worm and the second mouse gets the cheese, but there is a third maxim worth considering: The fourth quarter sells the house.

Buying a home in the winter months is a great idea. Don’t believe the naysayers who tell you to wait until spring and here’s why:

Interest rates

There are many factors which influence the real estate market in Canada; one factor which most buyers and sellers are familiar with are mortgage interest rates. When interest rates are high – in 1981, interest rates were over 20% – fewer people can afford to borrow the funds needed to purchase a home so fewer people buy houses. However, when interest rates are low more people can afford to enter or stay in the real estate market.

Currently, most buyers in Canada can get a variable mortgage interest rate of between 2.55% and 3.0% over a five year term. To put these numbers in perspective: in 1981, homeowners with a $200,000 mortgage would have paid $3,397 per month, whereas today borrowing the same amount of money would cost $1,100. Many people are taking advantage of these low interest rates to secure a mortgage on a new home.

Negotiating power

The real estate market is cyclical; there are predictable patterns of increased activity in the spring and summer months and as we move through fall and winter, the buying and selling fever starts to cool. For people purchasing a home, this means less inventory to choose from, but it also means sellers have fewer buyers knocking on the door.

The activity slowdown in winter can be good news for both sides of the transaction because it allows time for healthy negotiation. The competitive frenzy of the spring market is over so buyers can spend more time evaluating a potential new home without worrying it will be snapped up immediately by the competition. Fewer buyers in the marketplace means fewer offers in general; most sellers consider the terms and conditions of each offer carefully in the winter months because they never know when the next offer may come along.

Availability of professionals

One factor we can say with fair certainty is that most people don’t move in the winter months. For those of us working in the real estate industry, this means fewer clients and more availability in our schedules. So if you want to buy off-season when there is a certain chill in the air, you may find your ability to book your movers, schedule utility hook ups and hire a contractor to do any renovations or repairs on your new home easier because you don’t have stiff competition from other parties like you do in the spring and summer months.

The holiday season is a time for being with family, friends and loved ones, sharing goodwill and counting blessings. But as we count down the days to 2015, I am reminded the holiday season is also a time for change; what better way to celebrate the New Year than with a new life in a new house?

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.
He did not write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who
are interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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