Brian O'Donoghue

With the change in temperature and the end of that laid-back mood of summer, fall always feels like a shift in gears. Changing around your wardrobe and getting ready for those cool days and nights are almost upon us. With the fall market in full swing, the unpredictability of Toronto real estate is perplexing at times. Sales have been recovering and stronger than we expected in recent months. It seems that we are in full recovery with 6 straight months of sales increases for existing homes. Mortgage rates are dropping, and the impact of the mortgage stress test seems to have diminished slightly. Sellers are becoming a little bit more realistic in their pricing, but listings still remain low causing fierce competition among buyers.

Last week the freehold market saw a small 13% dip in new listings from the previous week. It is interesting to note that fewer listings did not dampen buyer’s spirits. Overall sales for the week shot up an impressive 41% from the previous week and as expected, supply and demand economics propelled 71% of sales at or above the list price. Most of the activity was centered in the east end again in the Riverdale, Danforth Village, Leslieville and Beaches neighbourhoods.

We love witnessing the condo market’s continued success. Listings were up slightly last week by 3% from the previous week. Sales had a healthy 17% increase week-to-week. Keeping in line with previous weeks, 45% of sold units are still happening at or above the list price. The condo market continues to lead the way in terms of price growth in the GTA.

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.

The dog days of August are upon us and if you like it hot and sunny then this is a great summer, unless you’ve lost out on multiple offers and are frustrated with the low inventory of properties for sale. The good news is sales in the GTA for the month of July jumped 24% from the same period last year. Toronto sales have been rebounding all summer from a slump earlier this year as buyers are overcoming tougher mortgage qualification rules and returning to the market. With new listings slow to come to market, prices rose in July as demand outpaced supply. The average selling price for a home in Toronto in July was $839,943. The average condominium price was $627,927 up 7.7% from a year ago.

Listings may be slim right now but it’s a good time for buyers to take advantage of the slow summer with less competition, as there are deals to be found. Some buyers are watching as rivals flow out of town for their summer vacations and can take advantage of their absence to snag a good deal. Properties listed in desirable locations will always attract plenty of buyers no matter what time of the year.

The freehold sector reversed an earlier trend of increased listings by recording a slight 18% drop in available homes last week while also recording a 16% drop in sales. However, competition for those homes was up, with almost 55% of home transactions selling at or above the asking price.

The condo market also saw a sharp 33% decrease in new listings from the previous week, but the sales remained unchanged with over 47% of suites selling at or above the list price.

Canadian housing enters a “boring” era marking a new period of stability for housing sales, after a less-than-stellar 2018 and early 2019. We have not heard Real Estate referred to as “boring” for a long time but Doug Porter, BMO chief economist says “The big story here is that sales and prices are essentially flat on national basis, and the market is close to overall balance, and therefore sales activity is almost right on top of its 10-year average, which is exactly what policymakers would like to see.” It’s a pretty good spot to be in, avoiding boom but avoiding bust as well.

More than 80 percent of all local markets in Canada were in a balanced market territory in June, the largest share in three years. The overall national market is likely to strengthen modestly over the next 18 months and we are looking for sales and prices to both rises roughly 2 percent in 2020, nationwide.

The Toronto housing market is recovering nicely, and prices are on the rise. TREB predicts the average home price will see a 4.1% gain this year. The one thing that is troubling is that we really haven’t seen any movement in new listings. In fact, we’re starting to see a decline again on a year-over-year basis in the number of listings coming to market. Because of the shortage of new listings, bidding wars are on the rise again. It seems the sky is not falling and with interest rates dropping the combination has brought some enthusiasm back to the housing market. This renewed interest is a contributing factor to rising prices.