Winter will soon be officially over, I know quite a few of us will be pleased about that! Traditionally spring is the busiest season in real estate, what with better weather, the school year coming to an end and the summer time being a great time to move and reorganize. This year promises to be no different than the past several years - a seller's market with more buyers vying for not enough properties.

The press certainly has been mixed on the matter. While some 'experts' are predicting dire straights, based on the incredibly volatile world economy, others remain optimistic that we will stay the course, albeit perhaps slightly tempered. At the beginning of this month the February stats were published, and there was much talk about the significantly lower numbers. Is the market tanking as the 'experts' predicted? Some were certain of it but others who are more closely involved would argue the point. If we look a little closer at the stats, in the City of Toronto, the Toronto Real Estate Board's Market Watch reports that sales were down 14% with prices up a moderate 2%, when compared with February of 2007. (the GTA figures were slightly different - sales down 11% and prices up 4%). It is important to note that active listings of properties were also down a significant 7%. Now couple that lack of inventory with the kind of weather that we had this past February and we certainly get a clearer picture of the market. Toronto had more 'snow days', with schools & other facilities closed, than I can remember, and many of us were hunkered down in our warm homes waiting for the next shovelling round. Not only was the weather uninviting the sad reality was that many streets were impassable and unparkable - is that a word? As an agent, if you're going to show a home, you really need to find a place to park!  

I don't know how many days were lost in February due to weather but it was significant. On the good weather days, many properties were sold (over 6,000) and several sold in a bidding war. At the same time, it's not all bidding wars out there. There are many overpriced homes on the market (statistically only 60% of listings actually sell) and several homes that were priced well and sold for their asking price or close to it. In the end, there are still many more buyers than there are willing sellers and that still adds up to a very busy marketplace. Happy almost Spring!