Call us unimaginative, but along with being thankful for family, good health and warm fall weather, this year we are going to be thankful for being Realtors®. Again. Sure, it has been and up and down and up kind of year and no we have not moved out of the near bottom ranking of jobs people like to hate, but nobody gets to explore and enjoy the city like we do. As the city learns to live a high-rise lifestyle we Realtors can enjoy some of the city’s most stunning views in the morning and wander amongst the grand homes of Lawrence Park in the afternoon. Condo owners have a bit more to be happy about as overall price growth in that sector continues to outstrip the single home market but recent stats from the Toronto Real Estate Board show all house types up year-over-year in the 416. Happy Thanksgiving!

In the condo market there was a modest decline in new listings as we head into the Thanksgiving long weekend with listings down 12% to 276 from 314 the previous week. Buyers can be thankful, though Sellers are definitely not, that the percentage of condos selling above their listed price continues to decline. This week only (yes, only) 27% of condos sold over their advertised price, down from above 40% in early-September.

In the freehold market the decline in new listings was more pronounced, down 17% from the previous week. While the condo market seems to have found its identity (just keep going up), the freehold market still seems to be looking for stable footing.  We are witnessing a bit of everything, with some listings reducing their prices after a few weeks and some still increasing their price when they don’t get a bidding war on offer night. Bidding wars are still happening with 35% of homes selling above their list price, just not to the same extent they were in the ultra hot spring market.