With June sales numbers in and sales activity in Toronto down 13% I wonder what is going through the mind of buyers who have been looking for a home or condo over the past 3-4 months?

Is this the start of the crash that many media sources have been touting the past 7 years? Sorry to say…nope! The numbers just don’t show it.

Many factors can come into play on why June activity was down but to keep it simple let’s only focus on supply and demand. Demand is strong and supply has risen about 13% to levels of active listings of 20,583 homes, condos and lofts for sale.We haven’t seen this many active listings (20,000+) in over a year.

Add to this incredibly affordable mortgage finance rates that aren’t going anywhere – Bank of Canada head Mark Carney is now talking about rates being flat until 2014.

So high listing inventory (supply) + low and stable interest rates + the X factor = a great time to be a buyer!

What is the X factor you ask? This is what I call the time period (and it’s usually short) where there is some confusion in where the market is heading. There will be lot’s of negative media about housing sales declining, along with worrisome sellers who are currently listed (see 20,583 of them) for sale and their fear of the unknown. And it won’t just be jittery owners. Add in the newer/less experienced/part time real estate agents who won’t know how to advise their sellers on what is happening.

This similar formula took place in 2008 when news of the recession in the U.S. (and milder degree in Canada) hit the media. And back then I had quite a few buyers who are laughing all the way to the bank today because they capitalized on amazing buying conditions that I had further exploited in their favor!

I had one such lucky couple who made off like bandits to the tune of about $200,000 from what the recent sales in the area were like.  We managed this by using an unskilled and part time selling agent and finding the real motivation of the seller (his Mom).  My buyer client was so impressed he decided himself to become “just like Mike” and today is a real estate agent himself (albeit part time).

So if you are a buyer looking for a home, condo or loft right now take advantage of the opportunity in front of you and don’t wait until mid-September to make your purchase. You might not make off with $200,000 in savings but I’m willing to wager you will do pretty well all things considered.