Greater Toronto Area home prices fell almost 18 per cent from last February — the largest year-over-year drop on record — as the number of properties sold was halved, the region’s real estate board said.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) said Friday that the average selling price for February totalled $1,095,617, roughly five per cent higher than the average January price of $1,038,390.
It attributed the swings to higher borrowing costs prompted by a quick succession of interest rate hikes, which have weighed on the market and offset the dramatic drop in prices that has materialized in recent months.
But Davelle Morrison, a Toronto broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., cautioned against reading too much into the steep year-over-year price drop. She sees 2022 as an anomaly because COVID-19 contributed to a massive demand for homes that was unlikely to be sustained for years to come.
While conditions are not as frantic as they were in the pandemic, she sees housing activity picking up again.
“With a few of my clients over the last couple of months, we’ve been in bidding wars, and we kind of thought bidding wars were over, but this year has really proven … they are back with a vengeance,” she said.
“I had a client a few days ago who lost out on a townhouse where there were 19 offers.”
First-time homebuyers who shied away from purchases as mortgage rates rose are returning to the market along with people who simply need to move or have outgrown their homes.
“There are people that need to buy, they’re not playing games and they’re not really trying to time the market.”
Yet, even as prices have come down from pandemic highs, some buyers have sat on the market’s sidelines awaiting further decreases and more supply, which has been lacking as prospective sellers lament the pricing slump.
Morrison fears they will miss an opportune time to buy.
“I think some of them might have missed their moments already by sitting and waiting and waiting,” she said.
However, she thinks there could be a further price decline in April or May, if more supply comes on the market.
February’s pricing data signals average selling prices are levelling off after trending lower through the spring and summer of last year, TRREB said.
The trend has pushed some buyers to purchase a lower-priced home.
Sales, new listings lower than 1 year ago
TRREB found the share of home purchases below $1 million sat at 57 per cent last month, up from 38 per cent during the same time period last year.
Overall sales remain far lower than they were a year ago, when the market was soaring, buyers dropped conditions and feisty bidding conditions were the norm.
February sales totalled 4,783, down 47 per cent from 9,028 a year earlier. In comparison, January recorded 3,094 sales.
A shift in sales could help prices level out, suggested Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
“With the Bank of Canada signalling a pause after aggressively tightening for the past year, we could see some price stability if sales pick up,” she wrote in a Friday note to investors.
What happens to sales will largely depend on new listings, which also lag figures from a year ago, amounting to 8,367 in February. That number is down 41 per cent from a year earlier, but TRREB sees changes coming.
Ipsos polling the board has seen suggests buying intentions have picked up for 2023, said Jason Mercer, TRREB’s chief market analyst.
“This increased demand will run up against a constrained supply of listings and lead to increased competition between buyers,” he said in a news release.
“This will eventually lead to renewed price growth in many segments of the market, especially those catering to first-time buyers facing increased rental costs.”
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
