In another example of how hot Toronto’s real estate market is getting, a downtown condo sold for more than $100,000 over asking in just two days.
The condo at 909 Bay Street, Unit 2505, in downtown Toronto, sold for $730,888, way over the asking price of $609,900.
This one-bedroom condo at 909 Bay Street sold for $730,888.
It was a record-breaking price compared to selling prices of similar sized-units in the building, according to Toronto Real Estate Board data.
The condo before renovations looked dated.
“Looking as far back as 2019 before the pandemic, my listing sold at record breaking price of $730,888,” said listing agent Yin-Lynn Low from Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage.
At 909 Bay Street, the highest sold price for a comparably-sized unit (500 to 599 square-feet), was $575,250 last May. A one-bedroom unit that was about 100 square-feet larger sold this month for $631,500.
“Our price was around market average.”
The bedroom after renos with new flooring.
This unit has been recently renovated, and it comes with a locker and a parking spot.
But Low believes staging, 3-D floor-plans, a promotional video showing the renovation improvements, and professional photos helped get this condo a top price. She also had the condo status certificate ready.
The condo was professionally staged and looked great in the photos.
She wanted the competitive edge to sell for but didn’t expect so many offers.
“We didn’t put it up with the intention to sell this high,” Low said.
The living room is bright with new flooring and a fresh paint job.
With new cabinets and appliances in the kitchen, new flooring, and baseboards, the place looks good. The corner unit is also has tons of natural light.
The bathroom looks nice but not out of the ordinary.
Buyers were interested immediately when it was listed on March 3.
“We booked 15 showings in the first day.”
The condo also comes with great views over the city.
There were four offers on the first day, but the owner wasn’t ready and Low decided to hold them for an offer date.
The next day, on March 4 there were more showings (there was a total of 60 showings booked) and 23 offers. It was sold just after midnight March 5.
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.
