Jonathan Sommer, Realtor
1122 Wilson St W L9G 3K9 Ancaster, ON, Canada

Looking for a summer project? Here you go! A solid brick bungalow in a fantastic location - just steps from the Penn Centre and just off the 406, this home has tons of potential. Enjoy a detached home on a large lot while still benefitting from being on transit routes and just steps from all the shopping and services you could want! Book your private showing today!

Welcome to the neighbourhood of Gilkson. On a quiet court, just off the main streets of Hamilton sits this tastefully updated and lovingly maintained semi. Perfect for a young professional couple or even a growing family, all you have to do is move in! This home is freshly painted, the living room carpet has been replaced with a tasteful, luxuriously thick and durable fresh carpet while the upstairs hall and secondary bedrooms were refinished with a high quality laminate. Enjoy the private back yard from the comfortable shade of the pergola situated on the back deck, or sip a warm drink in front of the gas fireplace in the family room. Don't wait to check out this home and make it your own!

It is the time of year for Winter Maintenance on your home! Check out this helpful list to make sure you don't miss any items to keep your home in tip top shape this winter. Your home is a great investment and keeping up with maintenance is one way to keep the value high. https://abuyerschoice.com/this-winter-maintenance-checklis/

Here is an interesting chart showing the price of the average home (US but similar trend in Canada - see second image tracking ratio from 2005) in ounces of gold, rather than dollars. If you are interested in reading more, this comes from this article: https://goldsilver.com//the-secret-to-understanding-gold/

https://www.cbc.ca//ham/real-estate-hamilton-may-1.5594607 "The Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington expects local real estate to rebound in the summer" While overall sales are still down significantly, the average price of a home in Hamilton is actually up 10% from a year ago and 6.3% from a month ago. ... We are also seeing a strong trend of increasing showings. The stats for last week show that the peaks (Fridays) are reaching the low (Sunday and Monday) levels of pre-COVID showings. If you are looking to get in the market, give me a call and we can discuss whether it is a good fit for you to jump in now.

As we see stay-at-home orders starting to be relaxed, showings in the GTA are up 105% over the same week last month, offer registrations are up 102% and new MLS listings are up 47%. These stats are tracked through our online appointment management system and a unique trend has emerged this week where there are a significantly higher number of new "Exclusive" listings compared to MLS listings. This could indicate that there is a pent up supply of listings that is ready to be unleashed next week. Stay tuned..

Royal LePage is predicting a relatively minor disruption to the housing market due to COVID-19. Excellent economy and employment numbers early in the year are likely to result in a rush of demand for housing when stay at home orders are lifted. CEO Phil Soper says, "It is easy to mistakenly equate a handful of transactions at lower prices to a reset in the value of the nation’s housing stock. Distressed sales that occur during an economic crisis are a poor proxy for real estate value." Read the full report here: https://www.royallepage.ca//royal-lepage-market-forecast-/

With low interest rates constantly in the news, people have been asking how they can take advantage of them. The short answer is to talk to a trusted mortgage advisor (I can recommend one if you don't have someone) and they will be able to analyze your situation with you. The longer answer is that it depends on what rate you are paying, how far into your mortgage you are, if you are on a fixed or variable rate, if there are other debts that you would like to consolidate and m...any other factors. See the attached article for a breakdown of these factors. A house on owned land is an asset that appreciates and will always have inherent value. Home ownership is essential to a strong economy and community as well as a fantastic asset to your personal long term wealth goals. If you are interested in getting into the market or adding to your real estate portfolio, give me a shout (call, text, email...zoom)! I am more than happy to help you and your loved ones with all your real estate needs! https://www.morningstar.ca//should-you-break-your-mortgage

Need some serious outdoor lighting? Look no further!

The lower Bank of Canada benchmark rate that was just announced means the highly controversial "stress test" rate has also been reduced. For buyers who are looking for just that "little bit more" to qualify for the mortgage they want, this is great news! However, the problem lies in the fact that so many people are stretching themselves thin just to be able to qualify for a starter home. Now that a lot of buyers have a little more buying power, the prices are likely to incre...ase proportionally to balance the supply / demand ratio. While this is being hailed as a win for affordability in the short term, the long term result must be higher prices and reduced affordability. What we really need is more supply; cut government red tape and building restrictions and we will see a true increase in affordability. https://www.theglobeandmail.com//article-bank-of-canada-c/

Stress test or no stress test, the market is picking up after a slow spring. We are seeing buyers rushing to the market - some think that there are good deals to be had and some just couldn't justify being out looking at houses till now. Sellers are also eager to get their houses listed now that the demand has rebounded. The Bank of Canada is expected to cut the five year benchmark rate as early as today to 4.79, which will bring us very close to the all time low of 4.64 see...n in July of 2017. The governor of the Bank of Canada has indicated that the intention is to keep rates low until at least 2023. If you are paying a high rate (anything above 2.19) on your mortgage, talk to a mortgage professional about options to get you on a lower rate. Even an expensive breakage fee and refinance may end up saving you money. Give me a call today if you need a connection - I work with some of the best mortgage professionals in the business who are more than happy to go over your situation and start saving you money! As always, if you are looking to buy or sell a home, or know someone that is - give me a call and I will be happy to assist you or your loved ones in making one of the biggest purchases / sales of your life. https://financialpost.com//mortgage-stress-test-planned-ch

July Stats are out and sales are up 23.7% over last month and up 27.8% over last July indicating a delayed spring market has finally arrived. The crazy numbers are the prices though - the average sale price in the Greater Hamilton-Burlington area was $692,999, up 2.6% from last month and 16.3% from the same month last year! Houses are selling and the number of active listings was down 21.4% from this time last year. Read the full release here: https://blog.rahb.ca/rahb-realtors-release-july-2020-mark/

Fantastic one bedroom condo available for rent in Burlington, close to GO Transit. Lots of amenities and brand new! Looking for high quality tenants - let me know if you know someone! https://www.realtor.ca//2/507-340-plains-road-e-burlington