In Oakville we had 151 sales of resale homes and condos last month. This was up 29% from August 2010. The average price of real estate sold in Oakville in August was a whopping $653,889 – this leads the GTA and is almost $90,000 higher than Toronto’s average price of $464,863. The average price for homes and condos in Oakville was up 18.4% from the same time last year.
With interest rates holding steady due to the economic uncertainty, is this making real estate in Oakville unaffordable? Are people getting in over their heads by the lure of cheap mortgage financing?
Mississauga had 934 sales of resale homes and condos in August, up almost 17% from last August. Average prices of real estate in Mississauga is more stable right now at $418,034 with a healthy increase of 7% from the same time last year. Mississauga certainly has more diversity in its real estate make up and with higher densities and population, the real estate market stats show that it’s being dominated by first-time buyers and renters making the leap into home ownership.
“Home sales in the GTA have stood up well despite a less certain economic outlook,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “Home sales will be bolstered by low mortgage rates moving forward.
This was reinforced by today’s announcement by the Bank of Canada that it will hold the benchmark interest rate at 1% as we finish out 2011. My hope is that real estate prices will stabilize and we won’t continue to see significant increases in home and condo prices in Oakville, Mississauga & the rest of the GTA. Even though mortgage rates are attractive, this can’t be maintained in the big picture and as we know with real estate prices…. What goes up, must come down. Just make sure you don’t get caught in the wake.
Are you looking to buy a home or condo given the current interest rates? Or, do the current prices of homes and condos in Oakville and Mississauga scare you? Please comment with your thoughts…. | 
