While sales of detached homes in the GTA have been down overall throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the markets in York Region’s King Township and Georgina are bucking the trend, according to a new report by RE/MAX of Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
Leading on the list of Top 5 in terms of percentage increase in detached housing sales is King, where 161 detached properties changed hands, up from 117 one year earlier, representing a 37.6 per cent upswing in volume, according to the RE/MAX 2020 Hot Pocket Communities Report that examines trends and developments in 65 Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) districts.
In King, just under 200 active listings were available for sale in June, average days on the market hovered at 44, while the sales-to-list price ratio was 93 per cent.
With an average price between $600,000 and $650,000, affordability was the common denominator in the third, fourth and fifth place finishes, according to Christopher Alexander, executive vice-president and regional director, RE/MAX of Ontario-Atlantic.
At No. 5 is Georgina, with 373 detached homes sold in the first six months of the year, up 9.1 per cent over the 342 sales reported during the same period last year.
Ranking at No. 3 is Simcoe County’s Innisfil, with a 14.4 per cent increase bringing the number of sales in the area to 389, up from 340 in 2019. Days on market were 35, sales-to-list price ratio was 99 per cent, and more than 220 active listings were available in June.
At No. 4 is Oshawa, also a hot spot for sales so far this year, with more than 1,053 single-detached homes sold in the first half of the year, a 10.8 per cent increase over 2019. Detached homes are moving quickly, with average days on market at 16, the sales-to-list price ratio is 101 per cent, and 200 active listing available for sale in June.
Bucking the affordability trend is No. 2 on the list, Bridle Path, Sunnybrook, York Mills, St. Andrew, and Windfields, the only district in the 416 to post an uptick in sales. The area, the most expensive in the GTA, experienced a 20.6 per cent increase in sales between January and June 2020, with the number of detached homes sold rising to 76, up from 63 during the same period in 2019.
Days on market were 19, with a sales-to-list price ratio of 94 per cent. Close to 100 homes were listed for sale in June.
Detached housing values have shown remarkable resilience in the first half of 2020, with 95 per cent of Greater Toronto real estate districts posting solid gains in average price, Alexander said.
Active listings across Greater Toronto real estate markets hovered at 14,000 in June, the lowest level for the month since 2016 when active listings bottomed-out at 12,327.
Average price was up in 95 per cent of areas between January and June 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Double-digit increases were reported in 60 per cent of 416 districts and in 50 per cent of 905 districts.
“Strong demand characterized much of the first quarter of 2020, setting the stage for a record-breaking spring market in the Greater Toronto Area – and then came COVID-19,” he said.
“In past downturns, a drop in unit sales has usually been followed by a significant upswing in the number of homes listed for sale. That didn’t happen in this case as buyers and sellers paused in April, then cautiously resumed home-buying activity as COVID-19 cases dropped and local economies reopened. With the easing of restrictions and the province moving into the third, and perhaps final phase, we anticipate that the housing market will likely accelerate,” Alexander said.
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.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
