Corinne McCabe , Broker

Last week's real estate market update could best be described by the simple phase "no news is good news". Across the downtown core, the east side and west side it appears that while listings are inching lower, there is plenty of appetite for buying a home, but the inventory is not there. We are witnessing the last hooray before the listing taps start to close over the winter holidays. Give it time though. In talking with our agents, we know that many buyers are waiting patiently for the spring market. In a couple of months pent up demand will return and buying a home will look like Black Friday at a big box store.

The freehold sector saw an overall drop in new listings and sales throughout all neighbourhoods. New listings were in short supply down 6%, and sales only saw a small 2% dip. However, because of the shortage in new listings we are still experiencing multiple offers and a whopping 62% of all sold properties sold at or above the asking price. There is a clear indication that on a year-over-year basis we are still well ahead of 2018. So far this year the Toronto Real Estate board has recorded 76,413 sales compared to 68,084 last year.

The condo market also saw a small dip in new listings last week, down 14%, but the good news is sales were up 13% week-over-week. There was also an increase in the percentage of properties selling above the listed price, up to 51% from last week's 43% selling in bidding wars. With the increasing average price for freehold properties going up we expect the condo market to remain strong in the coming new year.

HO HO HO here comes Santa! The annual Santa Clause parade comes to town on Sunday and if that doesn’t signal the start of winter then this week’s blast of early snow sure did. Despite the early onset of snow and temperature drop there is no sign that the real estate market is slipping into hibernation yet. A shortage of listings has been the problem for most of the year but when we ask around the office if agents have buyers they are working with everyone puts their hand up. We know there are many frustrated buyers out there, but we would encourage them to all keep looking. If you are thinking of putting your buying intentions on hold you might pay the ultimate price when prices escalate in the Spring...just like

they did last year.

Clearly as we see the year start to wind down freehold listings are not increasing week to week. Last week we saw an 8% drop and sales also dropped by 7%. These statistics are not uncommon when you compare to previous years. Its more a statement of the approaching winter market. Still, sentiment for home ownership remains strong as nearly 61% of sales happened at or above the list price.

The condo market on the other hand saw a 10% increase in new sales last week, but a sharp drop in sales down by 24%. Multiple offers once reaching a high of 52% of suites sold back in October has diminished to a still healthy 43% of condos selling at or above the asking price. We are still seeing heightened activity in the more price-friendly price point for first time buyers being between $400K to $700K.

The Toronto Real Estate Board released the market stats for the month of October and all we can say is we are UP! October continued the string of strong performances. Beginning in the spring the Toronto and GTA market have shown month per month growth in sales and sale prices. The average sale price for the City of Toronto is $925,498 up 6.4% from a year ago. The number of sales has also increased by 8.7%. Still the growing concern is the lack of inventory with active listings down almost 6% compared to last year resulting in tighter market conditions and accelerating price growth.

Last week in the city the freehold sector saw a 10% drop in new listings. Sales were also lower than the previous week, down 12%. We are still witnessing a bit of everything, with some listings sitting on the market, some listings selling in crazy bidding wars and scores of potential buyers cautiously waiting for the right house. Still, sentiment for home ownership remains strong as nearly 55% of home transactions in the 416 sold at or above the asking price.

The condo market did not see an increase in new listings but rather a 12% drop from the previous week, but sales were up 9%. The condo sector stats for October were also stellar. The average condo price came in at $662,631 up 9.8% from October 2018. With nearly 50% of sold units still happening at or above the list price, the condo market continues to lead the way in terms of price growth in the GTA..