The Toronto real estate market has returned with a vengeance since the two-month reprieve at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Homebuyer demand is fierce and homeowners are cashing in on skyrocketing valuations. Many have returned to the market in search of either the home of their dreams or the opportunity to cash in on some serious profit. After all, the average selling price for a home in Toronto is $1.045 million.
Record-setting sales activity and prices are expanding to the surrounding Toronto area, whether it is north of the city or east of the metropolis. Across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), housing prices and residential sales are going through the roof, despite the COVID-19 public health crisis still occurring.
Historically low interest rates, evolving consumer trends, strengthening demand, and the fear of missing out are driving this bullish Toronto real estate market. But are some places performing better than others? While the entire region is doing well, it is worth pointing out three Greater Toronto real estate areas to highlight just how incredible the situation has become over the last year.
Home Prices are Shattering Records in These Greater Toronto Real Estate Areas
Burlington
Burlington has seen eye-popping growth in real estate prices and sales this past year. Burlington could start to recover from ultra-low inventory levels amid increased listings, but this might not be enough to alleviate the dramatic surge in housing valuations.
According to the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton and Burlington (RAHB), residential sales increased 54 per cent in February month-over-month, to 1,271 transactions. Higher transactions were seen across multiple properties: single-family (+14.9 per cent), townhomes (+11.9 per cent), and apartment-style condo units (31.3 per cent).
The average price advanced 7.7% to $848,719. Here were how the three main property classifications performed in February:
Single-family: +33.5 per cent to $848,719
Townhomes: +25.5 per cent to $730,073
Apartment-style condos: +12.5 per cent to $515,217
“There are several pandemic-related factors which have contributed to the high demand for housing combined with the low supply levels we have experienced in our market area,” said RAHB President Donna Bacher in a news release. “The good news is the number of new listings broke a 10-year record for February and our active listings increased by 28 per cent from January 2021. As we recover from these ultra-low inventory numbers, buyers should start to see more selection and a bit less competition. Additionally, new listing numbers should stay strong and inventory levels should continue to increase to a more normal level as more of the RAHB market area moves out of lockdown and control zones.”
Aurora
The Aurora real estate market has been skyrocketing over the last year. Located just north of Toronto, it has benefited from families that no longer want to reside within the major urban centre, but still want to be close to Toronto’s amenities.
In February, residential sales climbed 47.5 per cent to 118 units, with growth seen in both single-family detached and townhome properties.
Prices did take a breather in February, falling 2.52 per cent month-over-month. However, real estate prices remained above the $1 million mark, with average prices coming in at $1.238 million. These prices might start to cool down, too, even with spring on the horizon, because of supply.
New listings: +96 per cent to 196
Active listings: +49.39 per cent to 124
Months of inventory: 1.8
Pickering
Pickering remains a very attractive place in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), especially for young families looking to plant roots. It maintains plenty of amenities while still being relatively close to downtown Toronto via the impressive public transit infrastructure.
But homebuyers are realizing this, too. Therefore, they are scooping up the limited housing stocks on the open market. This is reflected in the sky-high valuation of homes across the city.
Residential sales soared 105.61 per cent to 183 in February. But it was the price growth that crossed a record threshold. The average price for a home in Pickering rose 0.83 per cent to $1,008,209. But while this is impressive for the area, Pickering might see some easing as new supply comes online.
New listings: +52.2 per cent to 239
Active listings: +22.98 per cent to 107
Months of inventory: 1.0
No Signs of Slowing Down?
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) recently published a report suggesting that record home sales would continue this year, anticipating that 701,000 properties will change hands and the national average home price would increase 16.5 per cent to $665,000. This, according to CREA, will be the case coast to coast.
Robert Hogue, a senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, told CTV News that the red-hot housing market is no longer a big-city issue. This, he says, has now also become a small-town issue.
“Typically, housing markets are really kind of working in isolation relative to other parts of the country; this time it’s all synchronized, very hot everywhere,” Hogue said. “It puts a lot of pressure on affordability locally and that I think it is going to be quite a challenge going forward. This is no longer just a big-city kind of Toronto, Vancouver story; this is a small-town issue now.”
Whether you live in the city of Toronto or reside in the outskirts of The Six, the real estate market will continue to be on fire. Until interest rates begin to normalize or new supply is injected into the sector, this will be the case for at least the rest of 2021.
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.
