Corinne McCabe , Broker

Over the years we have watched the Black Friday phenomena move north of the border and now it is not unusual to see line-ups outside big box stores in Toronto.  As always the in demand items are electronics, televisions, clothes and… Real Estate? While a few weeks back we might have thought we were headed for an early end to the Fall market, that definitely does not seem to be the case as we get into the second half of November.  Don’t get us wrong, these are not door crasher numbers but sales in the Freehold category increased and the condo market continues to defy every new bit of legislation the government can throw at it.

We have reviewed our holiday/long weekend calendar and are clear for the rest of the year.  We have however entered what is universally known as the ‘Holiday Season’ and the freehold market always respects the holiday season.  So we are not at all surprised to see the number of listings declining from the previous week down 20% to 178 from the 222 the previous week. We did see a nice jump in sales, up 12% to 132 from the 118 the week before.  We believe the new mortgage stress test is keeping the Buyers interested even as the Sellers get to decorating their houses and this resulted in the number of freehold properties selling above their advertised price remaining at the lofty 42%.

The condo market saw a modest decline in both listings and sales but saw an increase in the percentage of properties selling above their listed price, up to 40% from last week’s 35%.  New listings declined 10% to 270 from 299 and sales declined a similar amount to 147 from the 162 the previous week. With the continued pressure from Buyers to buy before the new mortgage rules come in on January 1st, 2018 we expect the condo market to be strong for the rest of the year.

HO HO HO here come the holidays! Santa Clause is coming to town. The annual parade comes to town on Sunday and has been a staple in Toronto for 113 years keeping the tradition alive. Does that mean we are winding down and getting ready for Christmas? It doesn’t seem that way with a swell of new listings hitting the market in the early part of November compared with this time last year. Could this be a sign that sellers are hustling to list before the new “stress test” rules surrounding mortgages come into effect on January 1st.

Last week the freehold market saw 222 new listings in the central core hit the market up 35% from the week before with the east end doubling their new listings from 38 to 77. Sales were brisk for all parts of the city out pacing the week before with the west end up 65 percent. We are still experiencing multiple offers and 45 percent of all sales are selling over the asking price.

The condo market did not see an increase in new listings last week with only 299 listed, but there was a 21 percent increase in sold condos (162) mostly in the central core. Of those condos sold 35 percent sold over the asking price.

Bosley Real Estate Ltd. is a full service boutique brokerage operating in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Jordan and Port Hope, 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 reflect the true temperature of the real estate market.

In the olden days of yore we used to judge the changing of the seasons by stepping outside and observing the natural environment.  Cooler evenings and the kaleidoscope of colours  would indicate the onset of Fall and a powdering of snow was a sure indicator that winter was upon us.  The weather seems a less reliable indicator these days but not to worry the world of marketing and retail sales will keep us focused on the changing seasons.  If you haven’t left your house since Halloween you may not have noticed that it is suddenly Christmas everywhere you look. Unfortunately, the real estate market does not flip seasons as easily as your local retailer and the indicators we look for are harder to spot. The fall market is influenced by many things including believe it or not, when we get our first snow fall. Snow and bad weather not only indicate the approaching holidays when nobody really wants strangers tromping through their houses in Uggs and Blundstones and understandably the typical Seller and Buyer start to consider things other than real estate (I know we hardly believe it ourselves). This fall has been a particularly difficult market to get a finger on.  Some days are hotter than average and setting records and some neighbourhoods feel like they are in a cool chill.  New legislation makes some people think that the market will end early and has others thinking it will go to the last day of the year. We will keep on working and let you know how our seasonal transition fairs.

In the freehold market the number of new listings and sales both showed continued declines after seeing numbers rise through the first two weeks of October. Listings were down 7% over the previous week to 166 from 180 but are down a significant 30% since the mid-month high of 237. Sales declined 30% over the previous week from 136 to 93 and the percentage of homes that sold above their advertised price was 46%, down 12% from the previous week.  The east end continues to be the hottest freehold market with 65% of all sales going above their listed price.

The condo market held steady in new listings with an increase of 10% up 28 new listings to 295 last week. The new listings have been incredibly consistent for months with each week being within 10-15% up or down of the previous week.  There seems much less variation in numbers of new condo listings than compared to the freehold market.  There was a similar decline of sales in the condo market as with the freehold market with 26% fewer units selling last week over the previous week.  The number of condos selling above their listed price was 32% which falls within the typical range we have seen the entire fall market, never straying from 25-35% of condos selling above their advertised price. 

Bosley Real Estate Ltd. is a full service boutique brokerage operating in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Port Hope, 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 reflect the true temperature of the real estate market.

The Toronto Real Estate Board released the market stats for October and its good news once again! We saw a dramatic increase in sales (7,118) between September and October of almost 12 per cent pointing to stronger fall market conditions. The average selling price for the GTA for October was $780,000 up by 2.3 per cent compared to $762,691 in October 2016. For the City of Toronto the average sale price for October was $818,201 compared to $769,712 in October 2016 up by 6.3 per cent!

"Every year we generally see a jump in sales between September and October. However, this year that increase was more pronounced than usual compared to the previous ten years. So, while the number of transactions (7,118) was still down relative to last year's record pace, it certainly does appear that sales momentum is picking up" said Mr. Syrianos, TREB president.

For The City Of Toronto the average price for a detached home is $1,287,765 slightly down by 1.1%. The average price for a semi-detached is up by 5.2% to $948,309. The strongest growth was seen in townhomes averaging at $742,845 up by 8%, but the condo apartment has seen an insane price growth of 21% averaging at $555,004.

Last week in the city the freehold market was down 30% in new listings but up 18% in sales with 58% selling above the asking price. The condo market last week was slightly down in new listings but saw a dramatic 27% increase in sales with 33% selling over the asking price. Similar to what happened in Vancouver, it appears that the psychological impact of The Fair Housing Plan, including the tax on foreign buyers, is starting to unwind.