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Toronto home prices rise further in 2019

Ford & Chris — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 14:41:14 +0000

The city can “expect further acceleration” if nothing is done about the city’s undersupply of new homes, TREB says.

The Toronto Real Estate Board says home sales were up 17.4 per cent in December compared with the same month last year, while the average price was up almost 12 per cent in the month from a year earlier.

The December jump caps a surge in activity in the second half of last year, while a slower first half meant that overall 2019 sales were in line with annual medians for the decade.

The increased sales over 2018, even as new listings dropped 2.4 per cent year-over-year, helped push the average selling price for the year up by four per cent to $819,319. The average selling price in December was $837,788, up 11.9 per cent from a year earlier.

“We certainly saw a recovery in sales activity in 2019, particularly in the second half of the year,” said Michael Collins, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).

“As anticipated, many home buyers who were initially on the sidelines moved back into the market place starting in the spring. Buyer confidence was buoyed by a strong regional economy and declining contract mortgage rates over the course of the year.”

The region continues to struggle with an undersupply of housing, said Jason Mercer, TREB’s chief market analyst.

“Taking 2019 as an example, we experienced a strong sales increase up against a decline in supply. Tighter market conditions translated into accelerating price growth. Expect further acceleration in 2020 if there is no relief on the supply front,” he said in a statement.

For the year, condos saw the biggest price gains, up 6.4 per cent to an average of $587,959 compared with 2018, while detached home prices were up 0.9 per cent to an average of $1.02 million compared with the previous year. Condo sales activity was up only three per cent overall last year, while detached home sales were up 18.8 per cent.

For December, detached homes actually recorded higher price gains, up 11.6 per cent in the month to $1.05 million as sales were up 26.2 per cent from a year earlier. The average condo price was up 10.4 per cent to $612,464, while sales were up 6.9 per cent.

source – The Canadian Press, with a file from HuffPost Canada

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Thurston Olsen Toronto Real Estate Update Q3 2019

Ford & Chris — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 16:27:25 +0000

The Fall Market is in full swing! We hope you’re enjoying the beautiful fall foliage and keeping cozy as you start to bring out your favourite sweaters! To keep you up to date and informed about the real estate market, we have prepared your Toronto update for the third quarter of 2019.

Do you want the stats for your neighbourhood, or have a question about a specific sale on your street? Reach out and we’ll gladly give you all of the info! info@rosswebpro.com

Are you curious to know what your home is worth? Give us call at 416.465.7850 and we will be happy to provide you with an opinion of value.

8,646 homes sold throughout Toronto from July – September, 2019
- 2,442 were detached homes
- 743 were semi-detached homes
- 4,472 were condos
- 989 were a combination of other home types
The average price of a detached home is $1,280,312
The average price of a semi-detached home is $1,009,361
The average price of a condo is $628,074
Homes are on the market an average of 21 days

Click here to view our Toronto Real Estate Update from Q2 2019.

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Where you can buy houses in Toronto for under $1 million

Ford & Chris — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 13:38:26 +0000

Here’s where you can buy houses in Toronto for under $1 million

The price of detached houses in Toronto surpassed the $1 million mark for the first time in 2015. Since then prices have hovered at a consistent high and according to a new report by RE/MAX, they’re again on the rise. RE/MAX examined the Toronto Real Estate Board‘s 65 districts and found that detached housing values rose in 57 per cent of neighbourhoods in the 416. While this is welcome news for those who already own a piece of this lucrative property pie, those trying to buy houses in Toronto find themselves wondering if and when affordability will return to this hot market.

Despite the affordability woes, detached home sales in the GTA were way up in the first half of the year. Year-to-date transactions are up 17 per cent over 2018 figures – 20,067 versus 17,202 – and double-digit sales increases happened in over 70 per cent of TREB districts, which includes areas in the 416 and 905.

The market correction – especially over the past 18 months – has been the major catalyst for the increase in detached housing sales. It’s all about price,” says Christopher Alexander, Executive Vice President and Regional Director at RE/MAX of Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “The overall average price for detached housing in the GTA is still down marginally (-1.2 per cent), compared to year-ago levels. Year-to-date average price (January to June) was $1,008,177 in 2019 versus $1,020,136 in 2018.

While balanced and seller’s market conditions are evident in the 416, an estimated 45 per cent of Toronto neighbourhoods were in clear buyer’s market territory in June. The tightest area of the city is the East End, where eight out of 11 districts are in balanced/seller’s territory.

If you’re in the market to buy and you have your heart set on the 416, but don’t have a bottomless bank account, here are 12 areas where you can still buy detached houses in Toronto for less than $1 million.

EAST END TORONTO

WEST END TORONTO

source: blog.remax.ca

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Toronto home prices by subway station

Ford & Chris — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 21:25:09 +0000

Owning a home “steps from transit” certainly has its perks and can command a pretty penny on its sale price. Whether or not a home is within walking distance to the closest subway or Light Rail Transit stop is a top consideration for Toronto home buyers who lead a pedestrian lifestyle, or simply wish to leave the car at home on their commute. But what exactly is the cost of a home or condo by each TTC subway stop?

To find out, the average 2018 sold prices for houses and condos within 800 metres (roughly a 10-minute walk) of all 75 TTC subway and LRT stations were collected. Sold prices were sourced from the Toronto Real Estate Board for the period between January 1 and December 31, 2018.

The 5 Most Affordable TTC Stops for Houses

Ellesmere (Line 3): $708,489
Midland (Line 3): $716,813
Lawrence East (Line 3): $725,813
Finch West (Line 1): $741,891
McCowan (Line 3): $761,074

The 5 Least Affordable TTC Stops for Houses

York Mills (Line 1): $3,426,020
Museum (Line 1): $3,002,150
Summerhill (Line 1): $2,932,837
St. Clair (Line 1): $2,888,106
Sherbourne (Line 2): $2,870,130

The 5 Most Affordable TTC Stops for Condos

Kennedy (Lines 2 & 3): $329,530
Lawrence East (Line 3): $364,656
Ellesmere (Line 3): $382,752
Victoria Park (Line 2): $388,953
McCowan (Line 3): $420,572

The 5 Least Affordable TTC Stops for Condos

Summerhill (Line 1): $1,242,618
Rosedale (Line 1): $1,172,898
St. George (Lines 1 & 2): $1,141,827
St. Clair West (Line 1): $1,090,897
St. Clair (Line 1): $1,078,285

Methodology

Sold prices of individual properties were sourced from the Toronto Real Estate Board from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Sold condo prices includes sold condo apartments and condo townhouses. Sold house prices includes sold detached, semi-detached and attached houses. The boundary used for sold listings was a 800m radius from each subway stop. All calculations by Zoocasa.

Curious about the average price in your neighbourhood? Check out Toronto data here and reach out for your specific hood! Toronto Real Estate Update 2018

source: zoocasa

lead image by Doug Estey

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Toronto home prices continue to climb

Ford & Chris — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 20:27:52 +0000

Average home prices in the Toronto region climbed more than 4 per cent last month as buyers began to absorb the impact of tougher new mortgage qualification rules introduced in January.

Data from the Toronto Real Estate Board showed home prices rose 4.2 per cent in February compared to January to an average of $767,818, marking the strongest month-over-month price gain since September.

Detached home prices rose 3.1 per cent across the Greater Toronto Area in February compared to the prior month, averaging $1,000,736, while condo prices climbed 4.4 per cent over January to an average of $529,782.

Despite the increases, average prices were down 12.4 per cent in February compared to the same month last year, when sales were booming prior to a price correction that began in May last year, TREB said.

TREB said 5,175 homes sold in February across the GTA , a 35-per-cent drop compared to the record 7,955 sales in February last year, but an increase of almost 29 per cent compared to 4,019 homes sold in January this year.

There were 10,520 new listings of homes for sale in February, an increase of 7.3 per cent from the same month last year, and a jump of 23 per cent from January. Despite the increase, however, TREB said the level of new listings still remained below the February average for the previous 10 years.

Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, said he expects sales to pick up further as the year progresses.

“As we move further into the spring and summer months, growth in sales and selling prices is expected to pick up relative to last year,” he said in a statement, predicting price growth will come in the comparatively more affordable townhouse and condominium markets.

“That being said, listings supply will likely remain below average in many neighbourhoods in the GTA, which, over the long-term, could further hamper affordability,” Mr. Mercer said.

TREB president Tim Syrianos said his association anticipated sales would be slow in the opening months of 2018 compared to historic highs in early 2017.

He said prospective buyers “are still coming to terms with the psychological impact” of housing reforms introduced last April by the Ontario government, which included a new foreign buyer’s tax, as well as new mortgage qualification rules introduced Jan. 1 that require buyers to prove they can still afford their mortgages even if interest rates rise.

While sale prices are lower than they were at their peak a year ago, TREB said they are still up 12 per cent compared to the average sale price in February, 2016, “which represents an annualized increase well above the rate of inflation for the past two years.”

Scott Ingram, a Century 21 real estate agent in Toronto, said most home owners in Toronto have made money on their property despite last year’s downturn, calculating fewer than 9,500 buyers who purchased homes in the City of Toronto last year may still be unhappy because the benchmark price in January was at least $10,000 below the price they paid last year. He said they represent about 1.3 per cent of all homeowners in Toronto.

In a new analysis for his blog, Mr. Ingram said the benchmark prices for detached houses, semi-detached houses and townhouses in the City of Toronto in January were still below the peak levels they hit last year, but said prices for all housing types are higher than they were two years ago. The benchmark condominium price has increased compared to all months last year, so buyers in that category are not under water.

Even buyers who may feel “burned” by purchasing at the peak last year will be fine in the long run, Mr. Ingram said, as long as they do not plan to flip their home quickly.

For those who bought at the peak and planned to flip quickly, Mr. Ingram said the experience is a lesson that “real estate isn’t a guaranteed investment vehicle.”

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Toronto Real Estate Board ordered to open up online sales data

Ford & Chris — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 12:56:31 +0000

The Toronto Real Estate Board must let its member brokers release more home sales data to the public via the internet, the federal Competition Tribunal ordered Friday, in a move that could resonate across Canadian real estate markets.

The tribunal’s order, which follows an April ruling that TREB was stifling competition by restricting access to data on its proprietary Multiple Listing Service, says TREB must let its members offer searchable online databases called “virtual office websites.”

Those databases allow access to important information held in MLS, including data like sales prices, broker commissions, and withdrawn listings, as well as archived data.

“We’ve always taken the position where the more information that consumers have, the better decisions they can make,” said John Pasalis, president of the Toronto real estate brokerage Realosophy and a witness in favour of opening up the data.

“We’re going to look at making it more widely available on our website now,” said Pasalis.

Some Toronto-area real estate agents are champing at the bit to take advantage of the Competition Tribunal’s order as quickly as possible. Ara Mamourian, owner of Spring Realty, wrote in his blog that releasing the previously restricted information via his company’s search tool will save time and hassle for brokers and buyers alike.

Even brokers outside of Toronto have their eye on the Competition Tribunal’s order, and expect it to impact their local markets.

“Most likely because TREB is the biggest board, I think it’s going to trickle down right to the smallest board out there,” said Mayur Arora, a realtor with Oneflatfee.ca and a member of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.

Limits on home sales data

Still, the Competition Tribunal’s ruling does set some limits on exactly which MLS data can be released online.

Consumers who want to access the data will have to have a password-protected account with the broker providing it, and individual home sellers can request that TREB exclude their home sale information from the online databases. TREB can also keep certain private information about a home seller confidential, including mortgage and security information.

The Tribunal also said “TREB may limit members’ use to being directly related to the business of providing residential real estate brokerage services.”

The order represents a victory for the federal Competition Bureau. In its original application to get the data released, the bureau said the data will allow real estate agents “to offer consumers the convenience of data-driven insights into home sales prices and trends via the web and to improve the efficiency and quality of their services.”

TREB has 60 days from June 3 to implement the changes, and was also ordered to pay the Competition Commissioner’s legal costs of more than $1.8 million. In a statement, TREB CEO John DiMichele said TREB has filed a notice of appeal, but is reviewing the order with its lawyers before commenting publicly.

An ongoing legal saga

The tribunal’s ruling is the latest development in a case that goes back years. In 2011, the Competition Bureau sued TREB, Canada’s largest real estate board, for restricting the ways in which its member agents could release data from the Multiple Listing System.

The Competition Bureau said TREB’s practices were anti-competitive, and kept customers from accessing information that would help them buy a house. At the time, TREB said it was “legally and morally required to respect” the private information involved in real estate sales. The Competition Tribunal dismissed that case, but hearings began again in 2015 following a successful appeal by the Competition Bureau.
SOURCE: CBC NEWS

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