TREB Talks GTA Housing Supply and How Taxes Impact Market - CP24

For information on buying or selling and the current real estate market, contact me by email or call 416-322-8000.

SHOP, WINE & DINE on Mount Pleasant today 5 to 9 PM!

The SHOP, WINE & DINE event on Mount Pleasant is going on today 5 to 9 PM...the weather is suppose to get better later today so don't wimp out! #SHOPMPV #SHOPLocal

Metrolinx - Eglinton Crosstown Hydro Relocation at Mount Pleasant & Eglinton

Latest update from The Eglinton Crosstown re: Hydro Utility Relocation at Mt Pleasant & Eglinton. Short outages (20 mins approx) while hydro work is going on and then longer outages when they switch over to new hydro infra-structure...see map below for the streets affected for approx 8 wks!!!!!!!

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 21ST, 2017

The sky is not falling. The pigs are not yet flying. And we are pretty sure that the price of real estate in Toronto is going to keep climbing, though perhaps not as quickly as it was already this year.  But really, maybe it will.  After the announcement of the Government of Ontario’s ‘Fair Housing Plan’ our in-house experts pored over the information looking for whatever information might lead us to think the suggested changes would improve housing affordability in the GTA. We quickly dismissed point 15 thinking that while working elevators are fairly essential in a condo building, their lack of movement up or down was probably not having a huge effect on affordability in the market.  Many of us thought it might be fun to join the ‘Housing Supply Team’ or the ‘Housing Advisory Group”, but at the end of the day we all have full time jobs that we like.  The two points that we did pull out that we think will affect the market were the 15-per-cent Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) and the imposition of rent controls on all properties in Ontario, eliminating the exemption for properties built after 1991. For now we wait patiently for the legislation that will make all these announcements law and will give us the details that will allow clarity moving forward. On one last note, if you were thinking of heading out of town for your next purchase you should probably take a look at the articles below on house prices outside the City of Toronto.

The Freehold market experienced the typical after holiday resurgence in listings, more than doubling from 181 during the previous holiday filled week to 436 this past week.  The increase in listings was city-wide and should help provide options for those Buyers still hot to purchase in the spring market. Not surprisingly, following a week of fewer listings there were also substantially fewer sales last week.  The freehold sales in our study area topped out at exactly 100 with an even 70% going above their list price, down from a peak of 90% three weeks ago. Two interesting things of note last week were the steep decline of listings selling before their offer date with only around 10% selling in pre-emptive offers and the easing off of the percentage of sale price above the list price which seems to be settling in around 120% above the advertised price.

The condo market also witnessed a huge increase in listings adding nearly 200 more new listings than the previous week, going from 258 to 447. Like the freehold market condo sales also declined last week dropping from 224 to 151 this week, though the percentage of sales above their advertised price stayed relatively high with 70% of units selling above the list price. We think it is the condo market that will be most affected by the new rent controls and suspect there may be an uptick in new listings as the market moves forward.

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.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 31ST, 2017

The old adage says that if March comes in like a lion it leaves like a lamb.  If we consider the real estate market in the same vein, since March started with a roar we should have had a nice quiet end to the month. Alas, the real estate market respects no old wives tales as it wends its way through the spring. The last week of March capped off a month that saw prices jump an average 33% over March 2016.  Through the year, the talk has been the lack of listings, and we are happy to say that March seems to have bucked this trend.  The number of new listings in March 2017 is virtually identical for both the freehold and condo market as the number of new listings in March of 2016.  Of course we complained about not enough listings last year too so we expect to see high demand pushing prices in an upward direction for the foreseeable future.

The number of new listings in the freehold sector continued to increase over the previous week, jumping a significant 25% to 307.  Sales also saw a significant increase, up nearly 50% over the previous week.  The truly astounding number is that 90% of all freehold sales last week sold over their list price, including 100% of all properties listed under $700,000. As we enter April and May, the busiest months for real estate transactions, we expect more of the same.

The resale condo market seems to have settled into a nice groove.  New listings were virtually unchanged from the previous week at 321. What is interesting to note is that 75% of all new resale listings are in the downtown core, south of Bloor and between Dufferin and Yonge. Sales did ease off last week to 172 but the competition was as fierce as it has ever been with 80% of condos selling above their list price.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH24TH, 2017

As the last of the children return to school from warm beaches and snowy hills we are reminded of our obligations as parents to teach our children to be kind to others. Under no circumstances do we permit bullying from our children to their peers. Of course, as adult Realtors we rarely take our own good advice and are constantly talking about Bully offers as the way to get a jump on hot listings before the set offer date.  Now don’t get me wrong, like all good adults when we are doing something so obviously wrong as being a Bully we take the mature step of re-naming the process to something much more socially acceptable, in this case the ‘Pre-emptive’ offer. So with all the talk of pre-emptive offers we decided to take a look at how common this really is and if it benefits the Seller to accept the ‘Pre-emptive’ offer.  In our sampling of freehold sales in 5 MLS districts (C01, C03, C10, C11, E01) we noted some interesting trends.  Pre-emptive offers are much more common downtown than uptown, with 25% of listings selling before their offer date south of Bloor and a mere 7% selling before their offer date once you go north of Eglinton. The other interesting fact is that the final sale price, as a percentage above the list price, was on average higher on offer night then when a Seller accepted a Pre-emptive offer. So while we remind our children not to be Bullies, we might also want to take the time to let our Seller’s know that the best strategy might be to ignore the ‘Bully’ when it comes their way.

In the Freehold market the number of new listings exploded last week while sales remained virtually unchanged from the week before.  New listings increased an astounding 100% compared to the previous week while sales increased a meager 5%.  While we are hopeful that the new listings will ease some of the pressure Buyers face on offer nights, we continue to believe that there is insufficient inventory for the obviously strong demand for freehold properties.  With a consistent 75% of all listings selling above their list price Buyers should keep a tight hold on the railing, the ride is not over yet.

Condos on the other hand continue to carve their own market, mostly in the downtown core.  There was also a significant increase in new available condos for sale but the inventory only increased 50% over the previous week while sales matched the increase of the freehold market at 5%. It is important to note that by far the majority of new condo listings and sales are happening in the central core with only 7% of condo sales occurring in the east or west parts of our research area.  Like the freehold market, condos have settled into a consistent 70% of sales occurring above the list price.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY24TH, 2017

While we always enjoy spending time with our families, after all we are a family company, we never like what happens before the Family Day long weekend. Or really any long weekend in fact. The thing is, Realtors never like to list right before a long weekend which inevitably means listings drop the week before the long weekend and that creates what we like to call the real estate inversion. Before the long weekend there are a lot of sales and hardly any new listings and right after the long weekend there are a lot of new listings but not as many sales.

Freehold listings followed this predictable pattern and are up 10% over the previous week yet remain historically low when looking at inventory over the past few years. Of course, the Spring market has sprung so we do expect to see the listing inventory climb as we proceed to the warmer months. While sales were down over the previous week they continue to outpace new listings. Perhaps a silver lining for last week was that the number of Freehold properties that sold in bidding wars eased off slightly from 77% to 61%.  Sorry, but we don’t expect that to be a trend moving forward.  Bidding wars are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

The condo market has always been a little different around the long weekends and bucked the pattern with a decline in listings (down 27%) and a decline in sales (down 18%). Bidding wars followed a similar decline to the freehold segment going from 71% to 63%.  Holding back offers and bidding wars are a newer experience for the condo market and we are confident that with some practice it will follow the same long weekend trends the freehold market observes. If you are a follower of the long weekend calendar method of buying and selling real estate you have just over two weeks until March Break.  Happy Buying and Selling.

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.