Competition has been rising in the Mississauga real estate market over the last decade, and there are plenty of reasons this buzzing urban hub has become such a hot spot. Residents of this city enjoy cultural diversity, job opportunity and a balanced active lifestyle. With bike lanes, golf courses, Port Credit beach and a bounty of public parks, many are clamouring to make the move to this western GTA city.
While COVID-19 has caused uncertainty across the country, the real estate industry has been resilient. As an essential service, homebuyers continue to search for real estate options in Mississauga, despite fears surrounding the pandemic. Equipped with technology solutions, agents have been facilitating transactions digitally, allowing even remote homebuyers to purchase properties from afar.
If you’re interested in this market, dive into the latest Mississauga housing and condo trends to better understand where this market stands, and what we can expect in 2021:
Shifting Lifestyle Preferences Canada-wide
One of the key factors affecting the Mississauga real estate market are the shifting lifestyle preferences that have taken place over the past year.
As a result of the pandemic, demand for detached and semi-detached homes is climbing. Meanwhile, urban condo demand has declined, especially in markets such as Toronto. For many, this paints a different picture than what the market looked like at the beginning of 2020. Although, it’s important to note that while condos aren’t selling for as much as they were earlier this year, the condo market is by no means crashing.
During the pandemic-induced lockdown earlier in the year, those who lived in urban condos found themselves forced to use their small space for a variety of lifestyle needs. The demand on the home as a multi-purpose space for work, school, fitness, entertainment and relaxation has caused some to reevaluate just how much living space they need. The appeal of city-living for some has dissipated, as more people look outside the city for a more affordable home with larger square footage.
This has caused more homebuyers to flock from Toronto to suburban regions such as Mississauga, and beyond. The city of Mississauga is viewed as the perfect distance from the Toronto’s downtown core, providing a city feel along with all the benefits of living in the suburbs.
The city is peppered with relatively young subdivisions compared to Toronto’s older neighbourhoods. Mississauga also promises more neighbourhood green space and private outdoor space, so people can remain socially distanced while enjoying the outdoors. Meanwhile, avoiding shared spaces in Toronto condos like elevators and lobbies can ease anxiety, for some.
In Mississauga, homebuyers can even save on Land Transfer Tax which only needs to be paid the province, whereas in Toronto, buyers are required to pay a provincial and a municipal land transfer tax – a sizeable financial burden for Toronto homebuyers.
Mississauga House & Condo Prices
While Mississauga is hardly the most affordable market, compared to Toronto, it certainly is. According to TRREB, in the month of October, the average Toronto detached home price hit $1,470,857, a semi-detached home currently costs about $1,154,087, the average townhouse costs $1,068,860, and a condo will set you back an average of $668,161.
In contrast, in Mississauga the average price of a detached home was up 15 per cent year-over-year, reaching $1,239,382. The average price for semi-detached homes in Mississauga also climbed year-over-year to $848,990. As a result of the influx of condo inventory, the average price of a condo apartment in Mississauga averaged $536,435 year-over-year. Home prices in Mississauga continue to rise, indicating strong demand in this city. Surrounding areas in Peel Region are also experiencing this same growth trajectory when it comes to property prices. While average prices across property types remain lower than within neighbouring Toronto, the difference is not huge.
As prices rise, so too does the need for more affordable housing in Mississauga. In Peel Region, many people are living in housing they can’t afford – notably 70 per cent of low-income and 30 per cent of middle-income households.
In 2017, Mississauga introduced the affordable housing plan which aims to keep the city affordable for middle-income earners by incentivizing the creation of more reasonably priced units whenever possible. Should this strategy play out as planned, it could mean that over the next decade, the region will see upwards of 5,000 affordable units added to the Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon real estate market.
House & Condo Sales in the Mississauga Real Estate Market
Overall, Mississauga continues to be a seller’s market. Despite strong sales in Mississauga’s housing segment, the condo segment is not as strong.
In October, Mississauga house sales were sitting at 943. Low inventory and high demand were the recipe for a competitive market. In contrast, condo sales were down 11 per cent year-over year, while condo listings skyrocketed 77 per cent. This has resulted in some Mississauga condo owners facing challenges selling their units.
Yet, many believe the Mississauga condo market will quickly bounce back, considering the amenities in the area and affordability compared to high Toronto prices.
The Mississauga housing and condo market is experiencing contrasting trends. As people crave spacious floor plans in suburban areas, Mississauga offers an abundance of amenities while still being in proximity to Toronto’s downtown core.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
