Summer is almost upon us and I hope you are able to take advantage of some time off. Did you know that Ontario has some interesting food festival destinations? Here are a couple, and some upcoming RibFest dates near by, because if you're like our family it's just not summer without visiting the long lines at a RibFest!!
Strawberry Festival - Whitchurch/Stoufville June 28th - 30th - Who doesn't love a delicious Ontario Strawberry - aren't they the best! Celebrate this gorgeous fruit at the Strawberry Festival in Stoufville. The 40th anniversary celebrations are this year, and there's even fireworks July 1 Strawberry Festival Website
Carrot Fest - Bradford Ontario, August 16 & 17th Consitantly ranked in the top 100 events by festivals and events Ontario, this festival celebrates the humble carrot & the rich agricultural heritage of Bradford Carrot Fest
Winona Peach Festival, August 23 - 25th, Stoney Creek Second to only to Ontario strawberries in my humble opinion is a juicy Niagara region peach. With something for every age group including a midway, commercial exhibits and of course - peaches! Winona Peach Festival
Summer RibFests
Oakville RibFest - June 21-23 Sheridan College Trafalgar Road Campus, Oakville
Scarborough RibFest - August 2-5 Thompson Park, Scarborough
Whitby RibFest - July 12-14, Victoria Fields, Whitby
Oshawa RibFest - August 16 - 18th, 55 Lakeview Park, Oshawa
GTA REAL ESTATE JUNE MARKET UPDATE
The spring Real estate market has been slow and steady. Even with the slight interest rate decrease in June, buyers have not been nudged off the sidelines, although you can expect competition for freehold homes priced under $1M. Prices are holding, but number of sales are low overall. Condo sales are slow with lots of inventory.
Scarborough real estate is showing similar trends - I'm observing homes struggle to find the right price to attract buyers. The list low and attract multiple offers strategy seems to be effective in areas; although the 'marketing price' needs to be very attractively low for this strategy to be successful, and the gap between the marketing price and the sale price needs to be thoughtfully considered.
Why are the number of overall sales slow?
There are few theories on this, including:
- sellers testing the market with high prices that aren't selling
- prices remain unaffordable for many buyers
- sellers who bought at the top of the market and are selling because rates are too high don't want to sell at a loss
- Buyers may be waiting for further cuts to improve affordability
MARKET TRENDS FOR THE GTA
As you can imagine these charts are "very top line". But notice the drop in home sales (this is number of sales) and prices holding. These numbers will vary by neighbourhood, price range and property type, of course.
AVERAGE PRICE: NUMBER OF SALES:

