March 2017
Dear Friend,
More of the same, with no end in sight!
That pretty much sums up the Toronto real estate market. Record
level sales, record level prices as 8,014 residential homes sold in February through
the Toronto Real Estate Board MLS system.
It’s obvious that many Greater Toronto Area households as well as
overseas investors continue to view Canadian home ownership as a great
long-term investment. The high demand for ownership housing is broad-based,
with strong sales growth for most low-rise home types and condominium
apartments. This makes sense given the results of a recent consumer survey
undertaken by Ipsos, which found an even split between intending first-time
buyers and existing homeowners who indicated that they were planning on
purchasing a home in 2017.
While the demand for ownership housing grew over the past year, new
listings were down on a year-over-year basis by 12.5% further putting pressure
on prices. Annual rates of price growth continued to be strongest for low-rise
home types, particularly detached houses. Growth rates for condominium
apartment prices were also in the double digits, likely a result of strong
demand from first-time buyers and investors.
Though it sounds self-serving, I cannot stress enough the
importance of an experienced full time realtor to help you in the purchase and
sale of property. Last year, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported
approximately 226,000 transactions shared by about 49,000 realtors, or less
than 5 sales each! Really not enough practice to stay on top of one’s
game.
If you have some real estate questions, or know of someone
considering buying or selling, give me a call. I’ll be happy to put my
experience to work for you.
Have a great March!
Your Friend in Real Estate.
Steven
Steven
PS. I’m never too busy for your referrals!
