Despite the ongoing exodus from Canada’s urban core markets, growth in Toronto home sales this year will be supported by Canada’s continued economic recovery, improved employment and record- or near-record-low borrowing costs, said the city’s real estate board.
In its latest forecast, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said that while the COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact across the board, it “hasn’t put a damper on the overall demand” for homes in the country’s tightest real estate market.
A total of 95,151 homes were purchased through TRREB’s MLS System in 2020, representing an annual increase of 8.4%. During the same time frame, new listings rose by only 2.6%, a scenario that increased the average selling price by 13.5% to $929,699.
“Looking ahead, a strengthening economy and renewed GTA population growth following widespread vaccinations will support the continued demand for both ownership and rental housing,” said Jason Mercer, the TRREB’s chief market analyst.
Building from the strong momentum established towards the end of 2020, ownership will remain strong this year, with total home sales expected to range between 100,000 and 110,000. The overall average selling price across all residential asset classes in the region will also exceed $1 million for the first time, the TRREB predicted.
The report highlighted the glaring exception to this trend of market tightening.
“Over the course of 2020, growth in new condominium apartment listings far outstripped growth in sales,” the TRREB said, noting that as of fall 2020, “more than two-thirds of investor-owners were considering listing their properties for sale.”
However, Torontonians might well enjoy easy access to borrowing this year, spurring further market growth.
“Very low borrowing costs will be sustained throughout 2021 to support continued economic recovery,” the TRREB said. “Because of this, negotiated mortgage rates will remain low throughout the year as well.”
The steady roll-out of coronavirus inoculations will also feed into the market’s long-term robustness, especially once borders reopen in earnest.
“The GTA will continue to be the single greatest metropolitan beneficiary of immigration into Canada, as the substantial federal government immigration targets take effect. Population growth will be especially important for the condominium market,” the TRREB said.
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.
