February 2017 Market Review

Sometimes I feel like I could just copy-paste last month’s review, update a few numbers and be done! The Toronto market has been reliably consistent for years and years: prices go up. Sometimes the supply goes down and sometimes… well, it always seems to be down these days. 🙁

With the consistently strong demand for Toronto real estate, sales volume in February was up 5.7% to 8,014 transactions (7,583 in Feb ’16). There were just 9,834 new listings, down 12.5% (11,234 in Feb ’16). By the end of the month, only 5,400 listings were left on the market. At the end of Feb ’16 there were 10,902; that’s a drop of 50.5%. With supply dropping by half, it’s no wonder that prices continue to surge. The average sale price (for all housing types) leapt 27.7%, to $875,983.

Do you know anybody who is still dumping on the condo market? Tell ’em that sales in the 416 were up 14%, and prices climbed 18.2%. That’s getting up around low-rise rates of increase…. On the bright side, the average condo price for the month was $515,424, far below the average house price.

There are always multiple factors affecting markets – supply and demand, interest rates, land transfer taxes, the job market, foreign buyers, etc. – but the biggest, most obvious challenge these days is supply (which you know I’ve been on about for a while now). There are lots of qualified buyers ‘out there’, and they are fighting like mad to get the home they need in the neighbourhood they want… and sometimes the neighbourhood they didn’t know they wanted until they got priced out of one or two others! I see it every day, and there’s no getting around it. We need more listings, but there’s no easy solution to that.

This city needs more low-rise housing, better transit and improved infrastructure – I know, *news flash*, eh? Fortunately, there are always people who can cash out of the Toronto market and move to another city. There are lots of good reasons to do that, and I happen to know a couple of people who are doing that this year. Stay tuned! 🙂