Forget the market predictions and reports, investor advises

Investors should ignore the litany of real estate market predictions and reports, even those from leading financial institutions.

Landlords should not read too much into the many property reports churned out by lenders and other organizations. Even when the news is good.

They are simply too unreliable and not a true reflection of what is happening at local level. Or so Michael Dominguez, a seasoned investor and realtor with RE/MAX Jazz Brokerage advises.

“Predicting the national real estate market with one statistic is about as reliable as predicting the national weather,” he says. “As a good real estate investor knows, it is vital to become an expert in smaller communities and sometimes even a few streets. If the real estate fundamentals are sound in your area of expertise, it really doesn't matter what is happening across the country.”

Dominguez invests in Oshawa, Cobourg and Orillia and is currently building a joint venture team for such areas.

He was speaking in the wake of a report from TD warning that a soft landing in the condo market will eventually have a knock on effect on the single-family home market.

“National numbers are tremendously influenced by the largest markets, but that still means, even if the national prediction is correct, that will mean half of the markets are exceeding the national average,” he says. “With proper leveraging of your real estate investments, this ‘soft landing’ growth will still outperform most other investment vehicles.”

These reports, he says, are simply scaremongering many buyers. “None of my investors even glance at such reports anymore as they are tired of hearing them. They have been warning that the sky will fall in for years.”