Corinne McCabe , Broker

First we had Brexit and this week we have "schexit" also known as the last day of school (a unanimous vote to leave). For parents it means no more early morning rush to get the kids packed and out of the house. Traffic around the city gets a little lighter even with increased construction. But as we cruise into those hot summer months we have the opportunity to take a bit of a breather from our fast paced lives, take a trip out of town, enjoy some time sitting by the dock or under your favourite patio umbrella...unless you are trying to buy a house, in which case all bets are off.

The freehold sector remained relatively unchanged from the previous week. Listings were only down slightly while sales held the line. Competition for homes is still strong with three out of every four sales happening at or above the list price. While this is frustrating buyers across the 416 that same enthusiasm for home ownership is spreading throughout the province. We have seen multiple offers on homes in Markham, London, Barrie and even little island get-aways in Georgian Bay.  

Like the freehold market, the condominium sector is behaving in a similar manner. Listings are down a slight 1% and sales backed off only slightly. This seems in line with the historical trends as we enter the summer months. It is interesting to note that sales at or above the list price continue their scorching pace with a new record 43.1%. Bigger suites in the downtown core, particularly those in the $700k-$1.5m range are recieving the most attention with over half selling above the list price. In our opinion this is a clear indication of shifting trends in the residential market.

In real estate terms we call this time of the year the final push. It's that time for sellers to get into the market just before summer hits and thoughts turn to sipping beverages by the lake or taking the family on a summer adventure. Whatever your plans are, if you are a buyer, this is the time to consider getting into the market as new listings will tend to taper off over the next few months.

A 36% increase in new listings over the last week made a significant contribution to the choices that buyers had. New listings appeared equally across the 416 with a notable increase in the $700k-$1.5m price range. The first time buyer market, $400k-$700k continues to be tight across the downtown core although there seems to be a bit more choice in the west core. Despite the increase in new listings, sales have remained virtually unchanged yet of the 195 homes sold, 145 of them sold over asking (74.3%).

The condo market was a little less forthcoming in new listings last week, increasing available units by 14.5% to 614. While that seems like a large inventory it is important to recognize that sales also improved by over 6% and 38.2% of all transactions in the resale condominium sector happened at or above the list price. This continues to be the trend for 2016.

Low interest rates, immigration, shortage of housing. These are the “go to” topics used to describe Toronto’s housing dilemma. Frankly we are starting to sound like a broken record these days. The truth is that while these are sources of a frustrating market, they don’t tell the full story of Toronto’s great housing success. Simple demographic shifts in population mean that over the next 20 years more and more people will be moving to cities and Toronto is one of the top destinations on the global stage. For the foreseeable future this could be the new normal.

The freehold sector continues to tighten its grip on the market with a 34.4% decrease in new listings and a 46.2% increase in sales. Those two factors contribute to the perfect storm of price increases as nearly 75% of homes traded last week sold above the list price. It’s interesting to take a quick peek at the market from one year ago when we had nearly twice as many new listings and just marginally more sales for the same period. The truth is that federal policies can’t slow down Toronto’s speeding train of price appreciation. The simple solution is to add more housing to the existing stock. Change the balance, change the market.

The condominium sector is feeling the same intensity and pressure from lack of listings as the freehold market. Consider that active new listings have retreated by 8.2% over the last two weeks while sales have increased by 22.2%. In addition, we have hit the highest percentage of condos selling at or above the list price, now nearly 41%. In the central core’s $400k-$700k market nearly 50% of sales were in multiple offers and for the first time the ultra high end category (condos over $3m) are receiving multiple offers. 

Bosley Real Estate Ltd. is a full service boutique brokerage operating in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Jordan, Ontario since 1928. We have four centrally located offices and over 250 sales representatives selling and leasing homes and condominiums in all the vibrant communities we work in. Our brand is well recognized internationally thanks to our unique affiliation with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Our sales teams meet weekly to discuss market conditions, trending topics, and anecdotes that more accurately report on the true temperature of the real estate market.