Observer Walt
Senior Member
I'm interested in whether the average size of the houses/condos being compared year over year are the same. It seems logical to me that if there happened to be one or two expensive houses/condos being sold in the same period the previous year, it will skew the average a bit. Even if there are no outliers, there can be a general trend towards the selling of smaller units or larger units, which will also distort the picture.
I think the best comparison would be houses sold on the same street and the same condition/size being compared year over year. But this could be wishful thinking to get detailed stats like this.
This point is well taken. In appraisal work, you find another property that sold (the comparable property), then you adjust for differences. Theoretically, the first adjustment is for time, in order to place them on an equivalent basis from the point of view of time. To do this, you either use large volumes of statistics, if they are available (median or average prices across the Real Estate Board zone, sometimes), or you find paired sales (two properties that have sold, that are exactly alike except for time of sale), which are obviously very difficult to find in most cases, or you find resales of the same property (rare).
I saw the map in the G&M. The zones they use are so small that the amount of data in most cases would have been quite limited. I'm also not quite sure what to make of a small area that showed a major drop, right next door to an area which seems very similar in character which had a major increase. Interpret this stuff with caution.