Corinne McCabe , Broker

Wanted! - The desperately low inventory of properties for sale is responsible for the intense competition going on. Buyers fear that prices will escalate even more if they wait. Example 1: A property in Brampton gets an astounding 77 bidders for a rundown detached house and sells for $166,000 over ask. Example 2: A semi­detached in the Junction neighbourhood was listed for $949,000 and 33 offers came in and sold for $470,000 above the asking price. But the craziest one was this week on a property in prime High Park which was listed for $1,299,000 and it received 38 offers and sold for $2,300,000 ! ! ! !

Toronto's job market added 210,000 new jobs in 2019, the largest annual increase on record and wage gains were the strongest since 2008. All this combined with low mortgage rates and early reports of eye-popping sales can spur on buyers, but the buzz can also discourage some buyers who don't want to get carried away in competition. Bottom line ... we need more listings!

In the freehold sector listings continue to be a source of concern as we have indicated above. One year ago, we had 28% more listings than we do today. The good news is that sales were up week-over-week almost 60%. But given the fewer listings the number of homes that sold at or above the asking price remains high at 58%.

The condo market is well on its way to market health again. We saw listings increase 7% week-over-week and compared to the same period last year listings have climbed by 16%. The number of sold condos increased by 27% last week and the increasing demand continues to push the number of units selling at or above the list price to 57%, which points to continued strength in the high-rise market.

Is it safe to say that the Toronto real estate market is moving into uncharted waters these days? The go to response to the steady increase of prices has been the lack of listings, high demand and low borrowing costs. Are we seeing a flashback to early 2017? What has transpired are stories of multiple offers, wild bidding wars and many broken dreams. So, what should we expect as we move forward this year? We complained about not enough listings last year too, so we expect to see high demand pushing prices in an upward direction for the unforeseeable future.

The freehold sector is starting to show signs of life as we saw more listings come to market last week. Compared to last year at the same time though we are down 32% in new listings. The lack of inventory discourages some buyers from even looking because they don’t see much selection out there. That in turn suppresses supply because they’re not listing their existing homes. With more sales than listings happening the increased competition resulted in an increase 48% of available properties selling at or above the asking price.

If you thought of shifting your dreams of home ownership to the condo market would make life easier, be prepared for a little disappointment. Throughout 2019 we watched as competition for resale condos increased dramatically from about 35% of all condos selling at or above the list price at the beginning of the year to over 48% by December. January 2020 has not shown any relief. In fact, last weeks numbers showed that 55% of condos sold in multiple offers, thanks in part to a shortage of listings coming to market. Compared to last year at this time we are down 27% in new condo listings.

It was sort of a flat week for real estate. It seems buyers and sellers are waiting for the market to “show its colours.” Agents are eager to start showing properties but our research indicates that listings in both the freehold and condo sector have backed off slightly from a year ago while demand has not waivered. The condo sector is off to a good start with 32% more units sold so far this year compared to the same time a year ago.

The condo market stats were released this week and it continued to perform very well in 2019, with strong growth in sales and average price. It’s a relatively affordable entry point into home ownership for first-time buyers. Year-over-year price growth in the City of Toronto, which accounted for 71 per cent of transactions, was similar to the GTA, coming in at an increase of 10.3% resulting in an average price of $660,379. 

Tighter market conditions in the condo market translated into increased competition between buyers. The popular sweet spot price for condos is in the $600-$700 price range.

The condo apartment rental market was better supplied throughout 2019 with the number of listed condos up 35.6% compared to 2018. Strong job growth across all sectors combined with cultural diversity continued to fuel population growth in 2019, and all these people needed a place to live, with many initially pointed to the rental market. Average condominium rents were up year-over year. The average one-bedroom condo was up 3.1% to $2,209 and a two bedroom condo was up 3.4% to $2,868 a month.

Bosley Real Estate Ltd. is a full service boutique brokerage operating in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Hope and Cambridge 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.

Happy New Year! A new year and new decade begins. Let’s sum up the real estate market for 2019.

• GTA realtors reported 87,825 sales through TREB’s MLS system — up 12.6%

  compared to 78,015 for 2018 - the decade low.

• New listings entered into the MLS system (153,000) were down 2.4%

  compared to 2018

• The average selling price for the GTA was up 4% to $819,319 and for the

  City of Toronto the average price was up 5.6% to $874,834

• The average sale price for a condo in Toronto was up 10.3% to $656,233

  compared to $594,381 in 2018.

The real estate market surprised most housing economists in 2019. It started off slow with slumping sales and price declines but quickly turned a corner as home buyers who were on the sidelines moved back into the marketplace starting in the early spring. Buyer confidence rallied with a strong economy and declining mortgage rates over the course of the year.

With home sales showing no signs of fading in the new year, all eyes will be on the supply issue. Buyers are hoping that a new year will bring a rush of new listings to market, but industry leaders are not so optimistic as the market ended last year with a plunge in inventory that sent prices in the opposite direction. Toronto’s home prices are predicted to rise 6% this year. This is due to a strong local economy, high employment, strong immigration and mortgage rates are unlikely to rise.

It is too early to predict what will happen. Generally speaking, January is a slow month for new listings, but demand is high and the weather has been kind so hopefully we will see a faster release of new properties on the market.  
The waiting game begins!

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..

With no distractions to stand in our way for at least the next month or so we should see a return to a more customary fall market. No more holidays and disruptions just a steady pace of more listings and sales to continue. With two months left in 2019 there is still plenty of transactions on the horizon and our research shows there are plenty of buyers waiting for the perfect home.

Last week freehold listings shot up 53% considering the prior three weeks were sluggish. The crowd of hopeful sellers all waited to list their properties as soon as Thanksgiving was over. Certain neighbourhoods are still crazy busy, especially Riverdale/Leslieville where “special” properties are getting snapped up in a day. We are seeing sale prices surpass the craziness of the early days of 2017. Again, with the shortage of listings we are experiencing very localized market conditions.

The condo sector held steady in terms of new resale listings as the number of available suites dropped a marginal 5% from the previous week. Sales were also down however the demand is still visible with 44% of units selling at or above the

list price. CMHC is forecasting a robust market for the next two years. Conditions in Toronto mean first-time buyers are likely to face stiffer competition for homes therefore looking for more affordable types of housing like condos. Condo prices will remain strong because they feed the demand for homebuyers but also investors buying to rent out their unit.