Toronto's Housing Market in 2013
Greater Toronto Realtors reported 1,469 sales through the Toronto MLS® system during the first two weeks of January 2013. This result represented an increase of 2.4% over the 1,435 transactions reported during the same period in 2012.
"The New Year started off on a positive note with residential sales slightly above last year’s levels,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah. “I am cautiously optimistic about this result. It will be important to watch sales trends closely as we move through the first quarter to see if some of the households who moved to the sidelines as a result of stricter lending guidelines are starting to renew their decision to purchase a home.”
The average selling price during the first 14 days of 2013 was by up by four per-cent on a year-over-year basis to $459,728.
“Continuing the trend from 2012, the low-rise segment of the market experienced the strongest price growth as competition between buyers remained quite strong,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The average selling price is expected to grow in 2013, but at a slower pace as buyers benefit from more choice.”
January 16, 2013 in Toronto Real Estate Market, Toronto Real Estate Trends, Toronto Real Estate Update | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack
Toronto Sales Down 16% in December
Greater Toronto Area Realtors reported 2,169 transactions through the TorontoMLS system during the first 14 days of December 2012. This number of sales was down by 16 per cent in comparison to the same period in December 2011.
“Stricter mortgage lending guidelines, including a reduced maximum amortization period and a one million dollar purchase price ceiling for government-backed insured mortgages, appear to have had the effect desired by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
Some home buyers have put their home purchase decision on hold,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.
“In the City of Toronto, sales declines have been more pronounced as the effect of stricter mortgage lending guidelines has been compounded by the City’s additional upfront Land Transfer Tax,” added Hannah.
The average selling price in the first two weeks of December was $471,862, representing a three per cent annual rate of price growth.
“Even with the dip in sales since the spring, tight market conditions in the low-rise segment of the market have driven year-over-year average price growth,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
“While the average price for detached homes in the City of Toronto was down for the first two weeks of December compared to last year, this dip was due to a different mix of homes sold this year compared to last. There were fewer high-end detached homes sold compared to last year,” continued Mercer.
December 18, 2012 in Toronto Real Estate Board, Toronto Real Estate Trends, Toronto Real Estate Update | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Toronto condo sales cool in July
Greater Toronto Realtors® reported 7,570 sales in July 2012, representing a decline of 1.5 per cent compared to 7,683 sales reported in July 2011. The decline was most pronounced in the condominium apartment segment in the City of Toronto. Total sales in the rest of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were up compared to the same period last year.
“Very strong annual sales growth in the first half of 2012 and an earlier peak in sales this spring compared to 2011 help explain more moderate sales this summer. New mortgage lending guidelines and the additional upfront cost of the City of Toronto land transfer tax also prompted some households to put their buying decision on hold,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.
The average selling price in July 2012 was $476,947 – up by four per cent compared to July 2011. The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI)* composite index, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of benchmark home prices from one year to the next, was up by 7.1 per cent year-over-year.
“The GTA housing market became better-supplied in recent months. Buyers benefitted from more choice in the market place, resulting in less upward pressure on the average home price in July,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
“The mix of homes sold in July 2012 versus July 2011 also appears to have changed, further influencing the average selling price" concludes Mercer.
See the full Mark Watch report »
August 4, 2012 in Toronto Real Estate Board, Toronto Real Estate Market, Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
The MLS® Home Price Index
Developed using data from the Multiple Listing Service®, the MLS® Home Price Index (or MLS® HPI for short) allows you to see trends in home prices for a specific type of house in a given neighbourhood. The Home Price Index will allow you to better understand real estate market trends — and how they can affect the market value of your home.
More importantly, it helps you approach one of life’s most important decisions — buying or selling a home — with greater confidence.
The MLS® HPI is calculated using a sophisticated statistical model that takes into account a home’s quantitative (e.g., the number of rooms it has) and qualitative (e.g., whether it has a finished basement) features.
The MLS® HPI approach provides a less volatile measure of price than averages and medians, which can swing dramatically in response to changes in the share of very expensive or inexpensive home sales from one time period to the next.
Each month, there will be two key outputs published using the MLS® HPI:
1. A series of price indices – The MLS® HPI price indices work in a similar fashion to the Consumer Price Index (Canada’s measure of consumer price inflation). The indices have a base month/year of January 2005, where the indices are equal to 100. In January 2012 the TREB’s composite HPI was 143.1. This means that the composite price index grew by 43.1 per cent between January 2005 and January 2012.
2. A series of benchmark home prices – The MLS® HPI has also been used to establish benchmark homes down to TREB’s Community level of geography for major home types including single family (detached and attached, townhouses and apartments). A benchmark home is composed of a set of attributes typical of homes in the area where it is located, and remains constant over time. This allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of price over time.
Learn more about the MLS® HPI at www.homepriceindex.ca ».
February 20, 2012 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Toronto sales down, average price up
GTA Realtors Report Monthly Resale Housing Market Trends
Greater Toronto Realtors reported 4,138 sales during the first two weeks of March 2011 – a five per cent decrease compared to the first two weeks of March 2010. The number of new listings also dipped – down by 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.
"A positive economic outlook for the Greater Toronto Area, including steady growth in jobs and incomes, has kept households confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term," said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Bill Johnston.
The average price for transactions during the first 14 days of March was $460,196, representing a 4.6 per cent increase compared to the first two weeks of March 2010.
"Market conditions are tighter compared to this time last year, resulting in more competition between buyers and sustained upward pressure on the average selling price. The annual rate of price growth is expected to range between three and five per cent in 2011," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
See mid-month real estate report »
March 17, 2011 in Toronto Real Estate Trends, Toronto Real Estate Update | Permalink | Comments (33) | TrackBack
Toronto Life says:
Realtors are still trying to keep the public’s hands off MLS, but you can’t hoard information in the information age
The main incentive for selling your own home is, of course, to avoid paying the real estate agent’s fees, which can be enormous, usually amounting to five per cent of the value of your biggest asset. A DIY seller of a $431,000 house (the average house price in Toronto in 2010) would save $24,350 (including HST). You could buy a new car for that. Even if your buyer uses an agent, which most buyers do, and you’re on the hook to pay a 2.5 per cent commission, you’d still save more than 10 grand. In the same dramatic way consumers dumped travel agents to buy cruises, hotels and plane tickets over the Internet, I expect that we will soon be rethinking the way we use real estate agents, if we use them at all.
For the moment, we still need agents—not because of all the services they provide, but because of just one. We can’t list our homes on MLS.ca without them. MLS, the Multiple Listings Service, accounts for 90 per cent of all residential sales in Canada. House hunters can browse the site (and nose around their neighbour’s kitchen, right down to the Sub-Zero refrigerator), but the Canadian Real Estate Association controls the flow of information and carefully guards the most up-to-date data about sales.
Until last fall, CREA rules dictated that only traditional agents—those representing clients through the entire process, from appraisal to final sale—were allowed to list on the database. This gave CREA and its member boards across the country a virtual monopoly on real estate listings.
See Toronto Life article by Jan Wong »
March 10, 2011 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack
Toronto home sales down 11%
GTA Realtors Report On Resale Housing Market
Greater Toronto Realtors reported 1,563 sales during the first two weeks of January 2011 – an 11 per cent decrease compared to the first two weeks of January 2010.
"While off the record pace experienced last January, sales remain high from a historic perspective and market conditions remain tight enough to support a sustainable rate of price growth," said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Bill Johnston.
The average price for transactions during the first 14 days of January was $413,565, representing a five per cent increase compared to the first two weeks of January 2010.
"Average price growth continues to be supported by a positive affordability picture. A household earning the average income can afford mortgage payments associated with the purchase of an average priced home," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
January 20, 2011 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack
Toronto home sales down 16%
Greater Toronto Realtors reported 3,076 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) during the first two weeks of November 2010. This represented a 16 per cent decrease compared to the 3,666 sales recorded during the same period in November 2009. Year-to-date sales amounted to 78,526 – up slightly from the 2009 total.
“The number of transactions remained high relative to new listings through the first half of November, promoting a healthy rate of price growth compared to last year,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston.
The average price for November mid-month transactions was $437,554 – up more than five per cent compared to the average of $415,066 recorded during the first 14 days of November 2009.
“Mortgage payments on the average priced home remain affordable in the GTA based market. This is why the average selling price continues to increase,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
November 18, 2010 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack
Toronto real estate roared: RE/MAX
Toronto’s housing market roared back to life in the first half of 2010, with single-detached homes and condominium apartments and townhouses posting unprecedented double-digit gains in average price in most districts, according to a report released today by RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. This is in stark contrast to the July 2009 RE/MAX report that found that values in approximately 80 per cent of neighbourhoods surveyed in Toronto had depreciated over the same period in 2008.
RE/MAX examined 63 Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) districts in the single-detached category between January and June of 2010 and found that 85.7 per cent experienced double-digit gains. Mississauga’s Lorne Park (W13) led in terms of percentage increase in average price with a 30.2 per cent upswing in the first six months of the year, bringing year-to-date values in the area to $880,373 (vs. $676289 in 2009 and $830,041 in 2008). Markham (N01) ranked second with a 27.7 per cent jump to $779,168 (vs. $610,322 in 2009 and $683,050 in 2008) while Armour Heights, Bathurst Manor (C06) came in a close third at 27.5 per cent (rising to $732,535 from $574,599 in 2009 and $589,808 one year earlier). Mississauga’s Creditview, Erindale area (W16) secured fourth spot with an average price of $561,973—up 26.5 per cent over 2009’s $444,221 and 2008’s $476,877. Rounding out the top five was York Mills, Hogg’s Hollow, Bridle Path (C12) with a 26.2 per cent increase over last year and an average price of $1,868,591 (vs. $1,480,296 in 2009 and $1,580,851 in 2008).
“While first-time buyers dominated housing markets during the first half of 2009, move-up buyers ruled during January to June of 2010,” says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “Rising interest rates and the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in the province helped drive activity, with more than 50,000 sales reported year-to-date—a figure on par with record 2007 levels.”
As in years past—the exception being 2009—the second half of the year will be more tempered, with price appreciation moderating somewhat in most neighbourhoods. The one exception to the rule will be the hot pocket areas that continue to experience limited inventory.
With affordability a growing issue for many in the Toronto market, the city’s vast supply of existing condominium apartments and townhomes offer a financially attractive alternative. Like single-detached homes, however, condominium prices were on the upswing in the first six months of the year in the 59 TREB districts examined—with 61 per cent reporting double-digit increases.
The Danforth, East York (E03) was the top performing condominium market in terms of price appreciation—with values up 28.2 per cent to $222,421. While the increase is significant compared to the same period in 2009, it’s a more moderate 15 per cent ahead of the $195,019 reported in 2008. Yorkville (C02) secured second spot, with a 22.6 per cent increase in values, bringing average price to $653,745—a serious uptick over the 2009 level of $553,302 but only a nominal 5.6 increase over 2008’s $619,151. Markham (N01) took third place with an increase of 22.1 per cent to $332,590 over the 2009 figure ($272,316). Bayview Village (C15)—Toronto’s newest condominium corridor—saw a 19.6 per cent increase, with values rising to $331,063. North York (C14) continued to experience upward momentum during the first half of the year, with average price on the Yonge St. line up 19.5 per cent to $363,685, compared to the $304,342 reported during the same period in 2009.
Overall, single-detached homes in TREB’s North district (north of Steeles Ave.) saw the greatest percentage increase, with year-to-date average price rising 17.5 per cent to $617,723 (compared to $525,635 one year ago). Not surprisingly, condominium apartments and townhomes in the central core experienced the most significant upswing, with average price in TREB’s Central district rising 16.8 per cent to $385,996, up from $330,517 one year ago.
“Both housing types experienced serious percentage increases year-over-year – yet its important to keep those price hikes in perspective,” says Polzler. “Last year, 80 per cent of those districts experienced a decline in value. The bounce-back—fuelled by unprecedented market conditions including a severe shortage in listing inventory—simply returned average prices to their normal course.”
Source: RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada
July 14, 2010 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Toronto's luxury home market is hot
Forest Hill and Bridle Path are the hottest spots for real estate worth $1 million-plus as February sales and prices soar.
A heated Toronto real estate market is lifting sales of luxury homes as the economy starts to improve and move-up buyers regain confidence, says a report by Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty released Wednesday.
The top-performing area with sale prices in excess of $1 million in 2009 was Forest Hill, where 280 homes changed hands at an average price of $1.42 million.
The Bridle Path area was in second place, with 221 sales and an average price of $2.1 million.
Oakville, west of Toronto, came in third with 174 properties sold with an average value of $1.67 million.
See the full story in the Toronto Star »
March 4, 2010 in Toronto Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
