ThurstonOlsen Archives - Thurston Olsen Real Estate Group

June 2024 Market Report

Hey Friends!

Summer is almost here!

Summer just happens to be the favourite season for the TO Group.

We absolutely love summer and we wait all year for the warm weather and long fun-filled days.

A few of the many things we love about summer:

Ford and Chris just happen to both have birthdays in July
Beach Volleyball
(more) Jays games
Golf
An ice cold beer (or two) on one of Toronto’s many patios

Enough about us, let’s take a few minutes to give you another real estate update for June 2024

After what feels like months of waiting, the Bank of Canada has made their first decrease in the overnight lending rate. With a collective sigh of relief from many, the BoC decreased the rate by 0.25% on Wednesday to sit at 4.75%. While the decrease won’t have a huge effect on affordability, it is a sign that things are starting to move in the right direction.

Many expect the initial drop in rates to result in more decreases over the next year or so (possibly adding up to 1.5%).

Generally speaking, there is usually a bit of a delay before we start to see these changes take place in the market, so we’ll see how quickly things unfold over the next few months.

So what does this mean? Well, if you have a variable mortgage for $1,000,000 (using round numbers), your monthly savings will be approximately $155 with the decrease of 0.25% to the overnight rate. It sure doesn’t seem like a lot, but it all adds up! If anything, this will likely start to give buyers a bit more confidence in Toronto real estate and they will likely enter the market. Often when we see more buyers enter the market, we see more competition, and we see price increases.

If you have been waiting to purchase your first home, or an investment property, now could be a great time to put your plan into action! The rate cuts are good news for many and there are currently plenty of great opportunities out there that we don’t expect will last very long.

This could be one of the best times to purchase a home in the last few years. Reach out at any time to chat about what this could mean for you!

As the warm weather comes, the real estate market tends to slow. People start to focus their attention on summer vacations vs. buying their next home. This is exactly what we saw happen as May transitioned into June.

Overall, prices in the city of Toronto stayed relatively flat comparing May 2024 to May 2023, coming in 0.3% lower than the previous year. The biggest change that we saw was the decrease in sales by 17.8% year-over-year. Even more interesting is that new listings in the GTA were up 21% over the same time period, meaning that there were many more options to choose from than what buyers are used to. There is plenty of speculation out there as to why this happened, however the most popular opinion is that buyers are waiting for rates to come down further before going shopping. Many families are getting stretched financially due to inflation and the higher cost of living which doesn’t always align with a move.

We noticed that the freehold market moved more quickly than the condo market, especially if a home was newly renovated and checked all of the boxes. There are plenty of condos to choose from out there, so buyers have ample choice to find their perfect home or investment.

Check out the May year-over-year stats below for more information on the current market. If you would like statistics specific to your neighbourhood, an updated Comparative Market Analysis for your home, or help deciphering what the numbers could mean for you, please let us know and we would be happy to provide that for you.

MAY 2024 – Monthly Stats Image (720 × 800 px)

2118 Bloor St W unit 402 is an absolute stunner!

Big, Bright, and Beautiful on Bloor St W! Welcome home to this luxurious retreat at Picnic condos, a boutique building in High Park! This oversized corner unit features a custom floor plan, ample floor to ceiling windows, and is beaming with natural light. The modern kitchen showcases Scavolini cabinetry, high-end european appliances, upgraded gas cooking, and sleek Caesarstone countertops, complete with a breakfast bar. The open concept living space is perfect for entertaining friends and family and includes a walk out to a private balcony featuring a gas line for a BBQ. The Primary retreat boasts a picturesque tree-top view, dual walk through closets with built-in shelving, and a spacious spa-like 4-piece ensuite. Steps to all of the amazing shops, restaurants, cafes on Bloor St W, TTC, and the sprawling 400 acre High Park!

Check out www.2118BloorWest.com for more info and photos!

318 King St E unit 801 is one of the best valued condos in Corktown!

Welcome home to boutique urban living at The King East. This Oversized 1-bedroom condo offers the perfect blend of modern comfort and convenience. Enjoy the open concept living space with approx 9′ ceilings and concrete accents for a super cool loft-style feel. Includes a large bedroom with plenty of closet space and natural light. The modern open concept kitchen features full-sized stainless steel appliances (including a gas range), stone countertops, and floor to ceiling windows. This beautiful residence features 600 square feet of awesome in addition to the spacious balcony – complete with a gas line for a BBQ and stunning city views. Within walking distance to everything you need – Distillery District, St. Lawrence Market, George Brown College, parks, some of the best restaurants in the East end of the city. Multiple options for commuter access and TTC – including the future Ontario Line station that will be completed across the street. Move in and enjoy everything that this beautiful residence has to offer.

Check out www.318king.com for more info and photos!

The Bank of Canada has the following rate announcements scheduled for 2024. Interest rates have an integral effect on how our real estate market operates so it will be interesting to see how things unfold as the announcements come.

Wednesday, July 24
Wednesday, September 4
Wednesday, October 23
Wednesday, December 11

We are looking forward to some summer fun, but keep in mind that the summer real estate market is often full of opportunity. Let’s chat about what opportunities we can find for you!

As always, we would be happy to help you and any of your friends, family, colleagues, or neighbours with real estate services or advice. If you can think of anyone that could use our help, feel free to make an introduction! We promise we’ll make you look good ;)

Cheers!

Chris and Ford

May 2024 Market Report

Hey Friends!

We are EXCITED to feel the warm weather and to see the beautiful trees and flowers blooming throughout the city. Neighbours are hanging out on their front porches again and we can’t help but notice that more people are smiling ?

The real estate market is active and homes are being bought and sold.

Let’s take a few minutes to give you another Real Estate update for May 2024.

The Government of Canada dropped a bit of a surprise on us all a couple of weeks ago in relation to Capital Gains Taxes in Canada. This resulted in a bit of a worried frenzy among investors, financial planners, and accountants. The toughest blow is that they aren’t giving our citizens much time to change their plans that have likely been in place for years.

In relation to real estate, if you dispose of your capital property that is NOT your principal residence, the current rule states that 50% of the gain is included in your taxable income.

The new proposed rule will be that 66.7% of the gain will be included in your taxable income, if the property is disposed of on or after June 25, 2024.

There are some differences between individuals vs. corporations and trusts. For individuals, the first $250,000 of a capital gain realized after June 25, 2024 will be taxed at 50% and anything over and above that will be taxed at 67.7%

We are seeing a lot of real estate investors rush to the market looking for a quick sale in order to avoid the increased tax. If you own a secondary property, let’s take some time to do some quick math before making a snap-decision.

Assuming that you are in the highest tax bracket at 53.53%, a capital gain of $350,000 would result in a difference of approximately $9,000 more out of pocket with the new rules vs. the old ones.

Although it’s not ideal, it’s likely not as bad as it sounds. Where it will have the largest effect will be on people who have held an investment property for more than a decade who have realized a larger gain over time.

Now, don’t freak out! If you had no plans on selling your secondary property, it may not make sense to get it sold before June 25, 2024 (or maybe not even this year at all!). If it was on your radar to sell it this year, it may be worth getting it on the market and sold before June 25.

Just reach out! We are here to help you walk through all of your options. It would also be a great idea to touch base with your accountant and/or financial planner :)

Remember, teamwork makes your real estate dream work!

The Buyers are out and the Sellers are more willing to list their homes for sale after seeing prices bounce back after the brief dip caused by the hikes in interest rates. April came and went and interest rates stayed the same. The next rate announcement is June 5th and there is plenty of anticipation on whether or not the Bank of Canada will start to drop the interest rates. We’re sure that a drop in rates would be welcome by many!

Year-over-year stats were relatively flat with slight increases of approximately 3% overall in the city of Toronto. We did however see a 6% increase in all home types in the city of Toronto comparing March/24 to April/24, which is not uncommon for a traditional spring market.

The number of sales were also down year-over-year which meant increased choice for buyers. This and an increased number of available listings has also helped to keep the prices flat.

Freehold homes continue to get more attention than the condo market, garnering more multiple offer situations and quicker sales. As always, a properly presented and priced property will still move in almost any market (we can help with this!)

Overall, we feel that this is a relatively healthy market and there isn’t as much tension compared to spring markets in recent years – a much more enjoyable experience for buyers and sellers.

Check out the April year-over-year stats below for more information on the current market. If you would like statistics specific to your neighbourhood, an updated Comparative Market Analysis for your home, or help deciphering what the numbers could mean for you, please let us know and we would be happy to provide that for you.

May24 – Monthly Stats Image (720 × 800 px)

Welcome home to boutique urban living at unit 801 at 318 King St E, The King East, where style meets comfort in this impressive one bedroom condo. This residence offers an inviting open-concept living space with engineered hardwood floors, approximately 9-foot ceilings and stylish concrete accents, evoking a trendy loft-style ambiance.

The modern kitchen features full-sized stainless steel appliances, sleek stone countertops and a new subway tile backsplash. Floor-to-ceiling windows fill the space with natural light throughout the day with spectacular sunsets to follow in the evening.

The spacious bedroom boasts large closets for plenty of storage, engineered hardwood floors and frosted glass sliding doors.

Spanning 600 square feet of wonderful living space inside, this residence also features a generously sized balcony with the convenience of a gas BBQ, perfect for outdoor dining, entertaining friends or simply unwinding while taking in the city views.

Suite 801 also includes the added convenience of ensuite laundry, a large front hall closet and a locker.

Check out www.318king.com for more info and photos.

We have been blessed to have had the opportunity to help many of you and your people so far this year.

We truly appreciate your support and feel extremely honoured that you choose The TO Group to refer to your family, friends, and colleagues. Thank you!

Cheers!

Chris and Ford

April 2024 Market Report

Hey Friends!

Spring is finally back and so is Blue Jays baseball. As most of you already know, the TO Group are lifelong fans of the Jays and we spend an ample amount of our downtime watching Canada’s team. We are hopeful that they win some playoff games this season!

With that said, we have purchased tickets to a number of games this year and we wanted to try something new! So, we have a proposal for all of our loyal followers (this means you).

Any referral that you send to the TO Group that results in a successful closing will result in a pair of awesome seats to a Jays game this season*. As a bonus, you’ll get peace of mind knowing that your people will receive the best service in Real Estate ;)

Now, let’s take a few minutes to give you another Real Estate update for April 2024.

Exclusive Listings - The Lesser Known Real Estate Market

Did you know that there are homes for sale that aren’t available to the general public via MLS? These are often referred to as “Exclusive Listings” or “Pocket Listings”

An exclusive listing is when a seller enters into a listing agreement with a Brokerage but does not go to MLS. The listing remains exclusive to the listing brokerage and their agents have the exclusive opportunity to find a buyer.

You may be asking yourself “why would a homeowner want to limit the exposure of their home to the open market?” That’s a great question!

Here are a few instances where a seller may not want to expose their home to the general public:

Privacy – some sellers may not want photos of their home all over the internet for their neighbours to see and they may want to limit showings to only hand-picked, qualified buyers.

Not yet market ready – Sellers will often engage a Realtor to sell their property, but they may want to make some improvements to the home before going to MLS and they need some time to do it. Signing exclusively allows the Realtor to help the seller prepare their home for the market while being able to promote the home to their buyer clients or to other agents, so that they know that there is a great house coming to the market.

Restricted showing access – If a property is listed on MLS, it must be available to be shown to prospective buyers. If a Seller is in the middle of a renovation before selling, they may not want buyers coming through the property who may not be able to envision the finished product.

There are definitely pros and cons to exclusive listings and most of our clients choose to go to MLS to maximize exposure, however there is always a time and a place where this option can work for some of our clients.

Good News!

As a Buyer, the TO Group has access to plenty of exclusive listings throughout our brokerage, so there is always a chance that we can find your dream home before it goes on MLS

As a Seller, we have an extensive network of colleagues who work with qualified and serious buyers that may be looking for a home exactly like yours!

One of the many benefits of working with the TO Group is that we are a part of one of the largest and most well-connected real estate brokerages in Ontario.

March 2024 home sales were lower than the March 2023 result. Despite a better-supplied market compared to last year, there was enough competition between buyers to see a moderate increase in the average March home price compared to last year’s level.

Market conditions have gradually improved over the last quarter. Buyers seem to have adjusted to the higher interest rates as it has become more clear that the rates will likely not increase any further.

Homeowners who had been anticipating improved market conditions helped provide a better supply to the market in March which was welcomed by anxious buyers.

Assuming that we benefit from lower borrowing costs in the near future, we expect that sales will increase, new listings will be absorbed, and tighter market conditions will push selling prices higher.

Check out the March year-over-year stats below for more information on the current market. If you would like statistics specific to your neighbourhood, an updated Comparative Market Analysis for your home, or help deciphering what the numbers could mean for you, please let us know and we would be happy to provide that for you.

March 2024 Toronto Real Estate Stats - Snapshot

We are now in our 4th year of organizing our East Side Food Drive and we just wrapped up our Easter Edition which was a huge success! Thanks to everyone who contributed! This is truly one of the most gratifying events that we put on for our community and we really enjoy watching it grow. The Food Banks are having trouble keeping up with the demand this year so every effort counts!

Many people who are on variable mortgage rates or those who are approaching a mortgage renewal have been watching the Bank of Canada’s announcements on the overnight lending rate. The next announcement is on April 10th, so we are all waiting to see if they will cut the rates as many indicators are showing that inflation is under control.

Many industry professionals are expecting that the first rate cut won’t likely occur until June or July, but that the rates could fall from the current 5% down to approximately 3.75% by the end of the year. For those who have been reading our newsletters for the last year, you’ll know that when rates drop, prices tend to go up. Stay tuned!

Ford and Chris

*As a thank you for any referrals between April 5/24 – Sept 1/24 (excluding leases) which result in a successful purchase or sale, the TO Group would like to offer you a pair of tickets to a 2024 regular season Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre. We appreciate your support!

March 2024 Market Report

Hey Friends!

A lot has happened for the TO group in the last month and we are so excited to share some amazing news with you!

Ford and his lovely partner, Sara welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Olivia into the world on February 17th. She is beyond precious and everyone is so happy to see their family grow (including their dog Teagan who seems to think that Olivia is her baby).

Chris and his beautiful partner, Michelle put on the biggest party of their lives on March 2nd to celebrate their marriage. If you’re trying to imagine what it was like, picture the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Lots of people, too much food and drink, and plenty of dancing. They couldn’t be happier.

Enough about us! Let’s take a few minutes to give you another Real Estate update for March 2024.

When we first meet with potential clients, they often tell us that they have been following the real estate market via popular websites and Apps (we won’t share specific App names here!). This is always great news to us as it can be fun working with knowledgeable clients. We also believe in transparency and that everyone should have access to ample real estate data in order to help them make educated decisions, which these sources can help accomplish.

For those of you who are not familiar with these Apps, they essentially act as a property database which show a variety of sales data, including sale dates, listing and sale prices, pictures from current or previous listings, and estimated sale prices.

These are all great tools, but only when they work properly. The Estimate tools are where we would suggest you use caution, as it can often be incorrect…like, way off! We saw a home the other day where the Estimate tool valued the property at $1,075,000 and it sold on the open market at $1,431,000. We saw the house in person and it had one of those special feels to it that you can’t often quantify on a spec sheet or in a photo and we expected it to sell for what it did.

If Toronto was a place where all 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, semi-detached homes, with 1 car parking were the exact same, then the estimate tool would work quite well! The fact of the matter is that all houses in our city are different, they have different levels of finishes, different upgrades, and different feels. Not all of these things can be accurately measured by an algorithm. There is so much more data that us (real human) Realtors use when estimating values.

This is where we come in! We are immersed in the Toronto market 24/7. We are constantly viewing properties, we have our finger on the pulse of the action, we have tools for measuring bidding activity and tools that provide us with showing activity, among many other tools. Plus, we all gossip with each other about the activity we get on our listings, so we have a leg up there as well ;)

That’s the end of our rant for this month. To re-cap, we think that these Apps are a great tool if you want to check out photos of a new listing, or check out what a neighbouring home sold for, but if you want to know the TRUE value of your home, then please consult a professional (that means us).

Sales and showing activity are definitely picking up in the city of Toronto which is welcome news for most homeowners. When comparing the home values to last February, the numbers look relatively flat, however if we compare them to last month, January 2024, we see some positive increases which is a sign of buyer confidence returning to the market. For all home types in the city of Toronto, the average price increased by 11.7% comparing February to January.

The freehold market (detached/semi-detached/row houses) in the city of Toronto seems to be getting the most attention from eager home buyers with line ups at open houses, plenty of showings, and multiple offers on many properties listed for sale.

The condo market hasn’t yet seen the same activity as the freehold market, but through our experience it’s only a matter of time until the activity from the freehold market flows towards the condo market.

Check out the February year-over-year stats below for more information on the current market. If you would like statistics specific to your neighbourhood, an updated Comparative Market Analysis for your home, or help deciphering what the numbers could mean for you, please let us know and we would be happy to provide that for you.

March Break is here! Hopefully some of you are enjoying it somewhere warm with your families.

If you’ve chosen to stay in the city, here are a couple of ideas to keep you busy in case you were looking for something to do.

An East End favourite is back – the winter warming stations! Grab a coffee and go for a stroll down along the beach and check out some cool art installations to reimagine the lifeguard stations put on by the international design and art community. More info on the event can be viewed here.

A quick reminder that we still have a limited supply of tickets for the Toronto Home Show, taking place from March 8-10 & 13-17, 2024. If this is of interest, we would like to offer you the exclusive RE/MAX VIP Program at the show! Please send us a message and we’d be happy to get you some tickets.

JUST SOLD
60 Colborne St # 1604

Congratulations to our seller client who just sold their awesome condo in St. Lawrence Market! We’re so happy for you and we’re glad that we could help you with the sale!

For more info on this recent sale, check out 60colbornest1604.com

Thinking of selling and want to know more about our listing process? Our goal is to always make the home selling experience as easy and stress-free as possible for our clients while delivering incredible results! From offering industry-leading staging and marketing services all the way through to negotiating a fantastic sale price, we’re here to help! Send us a message for more info!

JUST LISTED
60 Colborne St # 1604

Nestled In The Heart Of Toronto’s Vibrant St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood, Unit 1604 At 60 Colborne Street Offers An Unparalleled Opportunity To Experience Luxury Living With Endless Amenities At Your Doorstep. This Gorgeous Residence Epitomizes Urban Elegance. With High-End Finishes, Expansive Windows, And A Smart Open Concept Layout, The Interior Seamlessly Connects You With A Wide And Spacious Balcony And Stunning Surroundings. Wake Up To A Mesmerizing South Facing Vista Which Includes A Beautiful View Of The Glistening Waters Of Lake Ontario Creating A Serene Backdrop To Your Daily Life, Offering Tranquility In The Midst Of The Bustling City. Easy Access To Parks, TTC, Union Station, Highways, Bike Paths, Shopping, Toronto Metropolitan University. Perfect For First Time Buyers, A Pied-A-Terre, Or An Investment To Add To Your Impressive Real Estate Portfolio.

Click Here For More Info! Reach out to book a private viewing!

JUST SOLD | 351 Wolverleigh Blvd

Congratulations to our buyer clients who just purchased this detached home in the coveted Danforth Neighbourhood! We’re so happy for you guys and we’re glad that we could help you with the purchase!

Thinking of buying and want to know more about our buying process? Our goal is to always make the home buying experience as easy and stress-free as possible for our clients while delivering incredible results! From offering industry-leading marketing services all the way through to negotiating a fantastic sale price, we’re here to help! Send us a message for more info!

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