Toronto Real Estate Posts 7

Apartment at Canada’s Tallest Residential Tower Hits the Market for C$35 Million in December, 2022

A full-floor apartment at The One in Toronto, the tallest residential building in Canada, that offers panoramic skyline views and a slew of luxury amenities, hit the market Thursday for just under C$35 million (US$26 million).

It’s currently the most expensive listing in Toronto, followed by a penthouse in the tower that was listed for C$32 million last week, listing records show.

The apartment on the 80th floor has 8,758 square feet of living space with eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms. By comparison, the penthouse atop the 85-story, 1,100-foot tower has approximately 8,000 square feet across three bedrooms and six bathrooms, according to the listings.

“The demand has continued to stay strong for luxury condominium buildings throughout Toronto,” Mr. Torkan said in a statement. “With little competition at the top, this is a one-of-a-kind condo for a unique buyer who wants nothing but the best.”........

Toronto condo market slowdown? Not at these projects in December, 2022

However, 8 Elm, a 69-storey, 819-unit condominium being built near Yonge-Dundas Square has sold over 80 per cent of the units released to market at an average of $1,775 per square foot. That is substantially higher than what the market averaged even before the Bank of Canada began hiking its overnight lending rate and caused buying activity to decelerate.

“A few things went into that and one is the location. The location is truly exceptional,” said Carlo Timpano, president of Capital Developments, which is developing 8 Elm with Reserve Properties.

He added the Elm Street project offers respite from the square’s bright lights and bustling activity..........

Doug Ford’s housing bill has ‘nothing’ to guarantee more affordable housing in December, 2022

Toronto city staff have a scathing new assessment of Premier Doug Ford’s key housing-creation bill, saying it does “nothing” to address affordability while destroying the city’s ability to fund services for new residents.

When the new city council meets Thursday, it should urge the Ford government to put Bill 23 on ice until at least Jan. 31 so it can be fixed, and to scrap plans to reduce development charges the city can levy on homebuilders, the report says.

The assessment by officials including chief planner Gregg Lintern, made public Tuesday, sharpens and expands upon a city staff briefing note issued last week that warned the “More Homes Built Faster Act” could harm the city’s ability to build new affordable rentals and homeless shelters.........

GTA Home Sales and Listings Trend Downwards in July, 2022

TORONTO, Aug. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There were 4,912 home sales reported through the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) MLS® System in July 2022 – down by 47 per cent compared to July 2021. Following the regular seasonal trend, sales were also down compared to June. New listings also declined on a year-over-year basis in July, albeit down by a more moderate four per cent. The expectation is that the trend for new listings will continue to follow the trend for sales, as we move through the second half of 2022 and into 2023.

Market conditions remained much more balanced in July 2022 compared to a year earlier. As buyers continued to benefit from more choice, the annual rate of price growth has moderated. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 12.9 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price was up by 1.2 per cent compared to July 2021 to $1,074,754. Less expensive home types, including condo apartments, experienced stronger rates of price growth as more buyers turned to these segments to help mitigate the impact of higher borrowing costs............

Toronto Home Prices Fall for Fifth Month as 'Significant' Rate Hikes Dent Sentiment, in August, 2022

New Toronto condo sales slump, but prices keep climbing: survey, in August, 2022

New condominium sales in the Greater Toronto Area declined in the second quarter of 2022 as prices climbed to a record high in April, May, and June, 2022.

The data collected in a recent market research study by Urbanation Inc. showed that 6,792 units were sold in Q2 in 2022, marking a drop of 19 per cent from the first quarter and 24 per cent year-over-year.

At the same time, prices for those new units rose to a historic $1,453 per square foot, which the firm says is partly the result of an increase in inventory in higher-priced projects in the city.

And those sky-high prices aren’t expected to come back down any time soon, something Urbanation attributes to the number of prospective renters in the market..........

Cancelled listings, turning homes into rentals more common as housing market cools in August, 2022

The fall has been attributed to interest rates, which are rising at a faster pace than some anticipated and pushing up the cost of a mortgage, and inflation, which recently hit a 39-year high.

Both have made it routine for properties to sit for weeks or months, pushing sellers to make tough decisions.

Since she wasn’t getting much interest on her listing, Tebb terminated it and turned the loft into a rental property instead.

“Everyone was saying, ‘nobody’s going and looking at anything,’ so then we lowered the price...and we had a few walk-ins but nothing, no offers.”..........

What’s next for Toronto’s housing market? Why experts are predicting the biggest slump in 40 years, in July, 2022

For the past two years, pretty much anyone who owned a home could sell it for an outlandish asking price. Decrepit bathrooms, haunted attics, remote locations — no matter. Everything sold. In some rural areas, a new-found escape for urbanites with remote-work set-ups, home values grew by more than 50 per cent.

Now, that red-hot market feels like a distant memory. Since March, when the market peaked, national home prices have fallen 3.3 per cent while some Ontario cities have reported drops of 10 to 15 per cent.

Housing downturns are to be expected when interest rates rise, but the speed at which rates are climbing — with the central bank hiking rates at the fastest pace since 1998 — has economists and market-watchers projecting the largest real estate downturn in modern Canadian history..........................

Reality check when it comes to new home statistics in July, 2022

We’re slowing getting back to a new normal which in many ways is a more stable market.

As new home and condominium sales ebb from the frantic pace of the past couple years, the media are bombarding us with negative news that may have some potential buyers shying away from acting. In fact, we in the industry are still busy – very busy.

So far in 2022, in every month from January through April, new home and condo sales have still been above the 10-year average. Yes, things have changed, but people will always need to buy homes.

Newcomers to Canada, people moving to the GTA for jobs, families expanding, empty nesters looking for more compact living quarters … the list of market sectors is long and active. Frankly, if there are 5 people in line for a specific home or condo instead of 15, the news is still good.......

Putting the real estate market into perspective in July, 2022

Readers and viewers, however, should look at the big picture and put news in perspective. We hear a lot about rising interest rates and the slight slowdown in the housing market, including dramatic predictions of a crash. This is all greatly exaggerated.

The market is strong and more balanced than it was last year, especially in pre-construction. Where a home may have had 20-30 offers, agents are now dealing with 2-3, which is a healthier scenario and far from the buyer’s market some are predicting.

The current situation is far different from 2008. Even then, there were deals to be had in good neighbourhoods where prices didn’t drop and in fact, came back some months later with a vengeance...........

Toronto Real Estate Market Faces Economic Conditions Not Seen Since 90s in July, 2022

“Inflation is a persistent rise the in the average level of prices over time.”  - The Bank of Canada

Prices typically rise over time, but the BOC’s goal is to have prices rising in a range between 1 to 3%. But we all know that the cost of the things we buy and consume, from food to gasoline, have been rising far more rapidly than 1 to 3%.

The BOC measure of inflation shows that prices are rising closer to 8% per year, and some experts even think this estimate is low.

So why is a high inflation rate bad?

For households, it means that the monthly paycheque doesn’t go as far in covering living expenses and without a rise in income, this can strain household finances........

Condo rents reach record high in Toronto despite weakening housing market in July, 2022

As the housing market continues to show signs of weakening, the cost of rent in Toronto is on the rise.

New data released by the Toronto Region Real Estate Board for the second quarter of 2022 shows that the average rent charged for one-bedroom and two-bedroom condominiums has now reached a new record high, after plunging earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The average one-bedroom rent was up 20.2 per cent year-over-year to $2,269 per month while the average two-bedroom rent was up 15.3 per cent to $2,979.

Smaller bachelor units were up a staggering 25 per cent to $1,829 per month but have not yet reached the peak reached in the third quarter of 2019........

Rising mortgage rates driving Ontario homeowners to move in search of affordability in July, 2022

High home prices, exacerbated by rising mortgage rates, are forcing some homeowners in Ontario to sell and find more affordable digs, new research from a real estate industry website suggests.

Affordability issues are pushing 32 per cent of Ontarians who own homes to plan a move in the next year, according to a survey from LowestRates.ca. It’s an escalation of a trend: over the past two years, 20 per cent have had to move to lower their costs, the survey said.

Housing affordability remains a major issue in Ontario. Though prices are climbing less quickly year over year, and even declining on a month-over-month basis, they are still sitting at eye-watering highs across the province, clocking in at $881,475 in June, a 2.8 per cent increase from the same time last year, according to data from the Ontario Real Estate Association. At the same time, high inflation has forced the Bank of Canada onto an aggressive interest rate hiking path, pushing mortgage rates to heights not seen in years.........

Ontario home sales activity still slowing down in July, 2022

New home sales in Ontario continued to ease in June, a trend that was especially apparent in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), according to Altus Group and the Building Industry and Land Development Association.

A total of 1,694 new homes were sold in the GTA in June, representing a significant annual decline of 56%, and hovering 52% below the 10-year average for that month. New condo home sales totalled 1,519 units, down by 44% annually and 36% below the region’s 10-year average for the asset class.

Single-family home sales fell by 85% year over year, accounting for just 175 units sold.

The number of new homes remaining in the market was 11,639 units, comprised of 9,717 condominium apartment units (3.5 months of inventory) and 1,922 single-family units (2.7 months of inventory).

Benchmark prices stood at more than $1.8 million for new single-family homes (up by 31.2% annually) and at nearly $1.2 million for new condo apartments (up by 12.4%)..............

'Historic' correction grips Canada's housing market, RBC says, July 2022

The housing market correction that’s taking hold in Canada could turn out to be its biggest in recent history, according to a new forecast from the country’s largest bank.

Benchmark home prices could fall more than 12 per cent through early next year from the market’s peak, a bigger decline than any of the four national downturns of the past 40 years, according to a report Friday by Royal Bank of Canada economist Robert Hogue.

Sales are also expected to slump 23 per cent this year and 15 per cent next year, RBC said. That total decline of 42 per cent since early 2021 would outrank the 38 per cent drop in 2008 and 2009........

You need over $226,000 yearly income to afford a house in Toronto, July 2022

Toronto faces unprecedented rent price growth for the fifth straight quarter, July, 2022

For the fifth consecutive quarter, the city of Toronto has experienced another record pace in annual rent price growth - this time at 16.7% - according to a new report from Urbanation.

Specifically, the average per square foot condo rent price has climbed 5.9% compared to the previous quarter, to $3.57. Urbanation said the GTA rental market had “fully recovered” from the dampened market at the height of the pandemic, with the smallest and least expensive units posing the most significant growth.

Units with one dens and two dens also saw the largest increase in rent at 6.4% and 9.4%, respectively, compared to their value in 2019. This could point to rising demand for more space inside the home as more people adapt to a work-from-home setup.......

The froth is off: Canadian houses now selling at $200K discounts, July, 2022

The plunge is merely a correction of a Canadian real estate market that has long operated beyond any reasonable notion of economic fundamentals.

The once-red hot Canadian real estate market is beginning to witness a trend that would have been unthinkable just months ago: Homes are starting to sell at a discount.

The Toronto suburbs, in particular, are yielding a near-daily stream of homes sold at discounts of more than $100,000.

A detached home in Mississauga, west of Toronto, went on the market in April at $1.6 million. After two months, the sellers let it go for $1.38 million.

A four-bedroom mini-mansion in Brampton, 40 km northwest of Toronto, hit the market at $1.8 million but ultimately sold for $1.5 million, a price reduction of $300,000.  A similar Brampton home spent 35 days on the market at a list price of $1.4 million before sellers accepted an offer that was more than $250,000 lower.........

Interest rate hikes are reigning in the GTA's "feisty" condo market: Strata, July, 2022

The Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate hikes have begun to reign in the GTA’s “feisty” condo market.

The impact of the 2.25% rise is “reverberating” across the region’s housing sector, says Jenelle Tremblett, a real estate agent with Strata, with condo prices dropping significantly.

Currently at $832 per square foot, prices in the GTA have declined 12% since March. Buyers are now paying an average of 1% below asking; during the February peak, they paid an average of 15% above the listed price. Inventory, too, has plateaued in recent months.

“The region overall is in a mild buyer’s market,” Tremblett noted.............

The Canadian Real Estate Bubble Was Just Delivered Its Final Blow - BMO, July, 2022

One of Canada’s largest banks is calling the housing market’s time of death — 10am Wednesday July 13, 2022. That’s basically the message from a BMO Capital Markets note to investors on Friday morning. Canadian housing affordability was already stretched to the limit, requiring price cuts to keep moving . Add this week’s rate hike, and mortgage payments are now past the late 80s — Canada’s most extreme bubble. That last bubble also unfortunately resulted in the country’s most extreme price crash.

“Wednesday’s 100-bp rate hike by the Bank of Canada might be a TKO for the housing market (at least for anyone that had any doubt a correction is underway),” warns BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic.

“The simple arithmetic makes it so,” he adds before comparing the absurd valuations............

Landlords struggle to evict tenants who turned Toronto homes into rooming houses, owe rent, July, 2022

Marissa Andersson and Oksana Kravchuk both own properties on the same Toronto street but didn’t know one another until they say they discovered a troubling connection.

Their tenants, who told the landlords they were in a relationship, built extra bedrooms in their homes without their knowledge, leased them out to other occupants and haven’t paid rent in several months, according to allegations filed with Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

The two landlords say Saeed Aldairi and Melissa Tulshi combined owe them nearly $120,000 in unpaid rent and utilities, property damage and legal costs…………

LACKIE: A big week for the Bank of Canada, July, 2022

One of the problems with doing what I do and spending time with the people I spend time with is that pretty much all I ever seem to talk about is real estate. Prices. Market slowdowns and rebalancing. Bank of Canada rate hikes. Doom and gloom, optimism and exuberance. Even by real estate-obsessed Toronto standards, it’s a bit much.

So I must admit that it came as a complete shock to me last week when I ran into some old friends who revealed themselves to be completely oblivious to what feels to me like a seismic shift underway in our market. It felt like all anyone was talking about was the interest rate hike yet there they stood before me with zero clue.

It reminded me of a tweet I read recently that said that the vast majority of Canadians will not begin to engage with the current reality of steadily-increasing borrowing costs until it comes time for their mortgage to renew. Likewise for the vast majority of people living in their homes, happily going about their daily lives. For many, in spite of all of the press coverage, any talk of a housing correction has yet to actually permeate in any meaningful way………

Home prices fall for the fourth straight months, July, 2022

Average home prices in Canada fell for the fourth consecutive month in June, while home sales were down in three-quarters of all markets.

The average (not seasonally adjusted) home price fell to $665,850 in June, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). That’s down 6.4% from the previous month and nearly 18% from February. Compared to a year ago, prices are down 1.8%.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the MLS Home Price Index, which strips out month-to-month volatility, fell for the third consecutive month. It was down 1.9% month-over-month, but remains 14.9% higher compared to last year.

Meanwhile, sales were down 5.6% from May, falling in three quarters of all markets and in 7 out of 10 provinces………..

Canada real estate: Home sales, prices plunge from highs as interest rates rise, July, 2022

The Canadian housing market continued to cool in June, with sales and prices falling in the wake of rising interest rates.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Friday that sales in June fell 23.9 per cent compared to last year. Declines were across three-quarters of all markets in the country, led by the most populated areas, including the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Hamilton-Burlington. Sales fell 5.6 per cent compared to last month, marking the fourth straight month of decline, although June’s drop was more moderate than the ones seen in April and May.

The price of an average home has also fallen. CREA says the average price of a home in Canada fell 1.8 per cent compared to last June, coming in at $655,850. While that marks a moderate decline compared to 2021, the average price of a home has fallen sharply since the record highs hit in February. Prices have dropped more than $150,000, or more than 18 per cent, from February, 2022 to June, 2022……..

Homeowners rush to renew mortgages to stay a step ahead of the BoC, July, 2022

More Canadians raced to get ahead of the curve by renewing their mortgages in the lead up to Wednesday’s startling interest-rate hike by the Bank of Canada.

Homeowners moved to secure their borrowing rates in June at the fastest pace since January 2021, according to a report from online mortgage lender Nesto Inc., which found Canadians were spurred on by the central bank’s June 1 increase and its well-telegraphed intention to continue hiking to tame runaway inflation.

And they were right to take the Bank of Canada at its word.

Governor Tiff Macklem announced a 100-basis-point hike that resulted in an increase in the benchmark lending rate to 2.5 per cent from 1.5 per cent. The central bank also indicated that it wasn’t done hiking, and would continue to do so until inflation is under control……..

“Unprecedented”: Terminated condo listings in the GTA surge 643% in six months, July, 2022

An “unprecedented surge” in the number of terminated real estate listings is the latest indication that Toronto’s housing market is slowing down.

According to Strata, there were 380 terminated condo listings across the Greater Toronto Area in January. In June, though, there were 2,822 – a 643% increase in just six months.

“Many sellers are still operating under the impression that this is a seller’s market, so they are listing too high and not seeing any action,” said Alex Hood, a realtor at Strata.ca, in the report.

“At the same time, rising inflation and interest rates are making buyers feel uncertain about the trajectory of the market, which is causing them to be more conservative with their bids.”……….

Would-be homebuyers should confirm mortgage pre-approvals, says broker, July, 2022

Prospective home-buyers should ensure they are still qualified for the mortgages they have been pre-approved for, said one mortgage broker, after interest rates were pushed higher by 1 per cent on Wednesday, July 14, 2022.

With rates pushed up by 1% on Wednesday, July 14, 2022. people considering jumping into the real estate market need to do their homework.

“It’s been busy with the announcement today. We’ve got a lot of clients calling. But most people were expecting this,” Zlatkin said.

“We notified some clients ahead of time, so that alleviates some of the panicked calls.”

With inflation pushing 8%, the Bank of Canada is raising interest rates to cool demand for goods and services……….

How the Bank of Canada’s 1 per cent rate hike will impact mortgages, loans and spending, July, 2022

The Bank of Canada increased its key interest rate by one percentage point Wednesday, July, 14, 2022, in the largest hike the country has seen in 24 years.

The move indicates the central bank will take a more aggressive approach to tackling inflation, which sits at a 39-year high of 7.7 per cent and has made groceries, vacations and other purchases more pricey.

The hike to 2.5 per cent will also impact mortgages, loans and spending habits.

Mortgages

Commercial banks and other financial institutions usually raise or lower their mortgage rates in tandem with the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes……….

Real estate downturn sparks buyers’ remorse, July, 2022

The rapid downturn in Canada’s housing market is restoring a sense of calm to buyers who no longer need to fear being sucked into the whirling vortex of bidding wars. But now that prices are sliding, some buyers regret the outlandish bids they made during the early spring frenzy.

Claire Fan, economist at Royal Bank of Canada, says demand is cooling fast in cities across the country, pushing markets that once favoured sellers into a more balanced zone.

Ms. Fan notes that the slowdown in June was particularly acute in areas where markets were strongest – and prices were highest – during the pandemic.

In Toronto and Vancouver, consumers have proven more sensitive to the Bank of Canada’s early interest rates increases because average home prices are richer and mortgages are larger, she points out…….

5 luxury real estate trends to expect in the GTA this summer, July, 2022

Summer real estate season is well underway in the GTA but that can look different when it comes to the high-end properties.

Andy Taylor and Jodi Allen, both senior vice presidents of sales at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, have the details when it comes to Toronto’s most coveted homes. They chatted with Daily Hive to discuss their predictions and trends for this season’s real estate market.

Here’s what to expect.

1. Fewer listings

Since most people escape to the cottage during the summer, this season is often considered a slow time for luxury real estate……..

Toronto Area House & Condo Prices Fall Again – Market Update, July 2022

Latest market numbers show that Toronto’s house and condo prices falling up to 20% from peaks earlier this year though staying slightly up year-over-year.

House sales in June are down 42% over last year and down slightly when compared to last month.

The average price for a house in June was $1,373,325 down from the most recent peak of $1,679,429 in February, but up 5% over last year; the median house price in June was $1,200,000, down from $1,485,000 in February, but up 5% over last year.

New house listings were up 1% compared to last year, but well below previous years, while the number of houses available for sale at the end of the month, or active listings, at the end of June was up 46% over last year.

Condo sales were down 40% in June over last year and below pre-Covid sales volumes for the month.

The average price for a condo in June fell to $766,839, down from $840,444 in March, the most recent peak. The average price is up 9% over last year. The median price for a condo in June was $705,000, up 10% over last year, but down from $777,000…….

Even Toronto Real Estate Is Averaging $1,200 In Losses Per Day, July, 2022

The index for the country’s largest market (Greater Toronto) shows home prices peaked at $1,303,900 in March 2022. This was an increase of 58.0% ($490,000) from March 2020. Toronto went from one of the most affordable big cities in North America to being declared one of the world’s biggest real estate bubbles in less than a decade. World. Class.

Toronto home prices have since fallen 5.5% ($73,200) since peak, wiping out about 14.9% of gains made since March 2020. That’s a loss of about 1 in 7 dollars gained since the Great Rate Cuts of 2020. Or put another way, prices are falling an average of $1,200 per day. It’s the country’s 10th worst performing market.

Falling interest rates provided fuel for speculators, sending prices soaring. Now that rates are rising, the speculative mindset has broken. It’s too early for higher interest rates to have throttled capital so much in these regions. However, seeing some losses has shown people that home prices can’t continue to rise at the rate they did, and market participants are now engaged in price discovery………..

Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Is On Track To Reverse All Gains By Next Year 2023, July, 2022

Kitchener-Waterloo, a commuter suburb of Toronto, saw the third biggest drop. Home prices peaked at $957,900 in February 2022, rising 74.1% ($408,800) since March 2020. It’s also in Southern Ontario, if you didn’t notice. Sensing a pattern here?

Since the February 2022 peak, Kitchener-Waterloo home prices contracted sharply. In May 2022, it was down 11.4% ($109,300) since hitting the February 2022 high. The market has rolled back 26.8% of gains made over roughly two years.. If this keeps up, the market should be back to where it started by the start of next year — do over. ……….

Toronto is in the midst of a housing crisis. So why are the charges passed onto developers set to go up by nearly 50 per cent? July, 2022

The cost of building housing in Toronto will soon rise by tens of thousands of dollars per unit as the city hikes development charges by nearly 50 per cent.

The fees, which are charged to developers and help pay for the associated capital investments required to support new development, are evaluated every five years using a long-standing formula.

City officials maintain that even with the increases, Toronto will still have cheaper development charges than several neighbouring municipalities, including Markham, Mississauga and Vaughan……….

LACKIE: Now’s the time for prudence in Toronto real estate July, 2022

As someone who works full-time selling real estate and has been noting the mounting (albeit sometimes subtle) signs of a shifting market in these columns since March, it has taken some time for concrete data to land that loudly tells us this isn’t just something being made out of nothing.

Now, to be fair, for as long as the market has been doing well there have been countless voices warning of unsustainability and calling for imminent collapse. Of course that collapse has never come to pass. Dips and blips to be sure, but nothing even remotely resembling the decimation of the early 1990s.

It feels like a lifetime ago but many may have forgotten that when COVID first hit CMHC predicted an 18% decline in the subsequent 12 months, a projection breathlessly reported by everyone, everywhere, if only for a break from coverage on the actual virus…………

WILD: February home sales remain strong, despite cooler start to 2022 in March, 2022

Interest rates, even with the bump, remain at historically low levels and lower than they were pre-pandemic.

The impact of this week’s rate hike will definitely make mortgages more expensive (very roughly, 0.25% will translate to $38/month on a current 5-year fixed-rate $300,000 mortgage amortized over 25 years to $64/month for a $500,000 mortgage over the same period).

However, that won’t pose much of a hurdle for many buyers……….

GTA home prices up 28% from last year as supply remains hampered: TRREB in March, 2022

There was no relief for Greater Toronto Area homebuyers last month as the average home price crept up nearly 28 per cent when compared with last year as a lack of supply continued to hamper the market.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate board said Thursday the average selling price for a home in the region surpassed $1.3 million last month, up from just above $1 million last February and more than $1.2 million in January of this year.

The average price of a detached home hit more than $1.7 million last month, with semi-detached properties at $1.3 million, townhouses at $1.1 million and condos nearing $800,000…………

Average selling price of Toronto detached house pushes $2M mark in March, 2022

For the first time, the average selling price of a detached house in the City of Toronto has pushed past the $2 million mark, even as barely perceptible signs of a cooling wafted across the region’s sweltering housing market in February.

Although it was the second busiest February on record for home sales, there were 16.8 per cent fewer transactions compared to last year’s record-setting month — an even greater decline than the continuing drop of house and apartment listings, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) reported on Thursday.

But real estate board president Kevin Crigger acknowledged that the change in sales activity would have been imperceptible to consumers as competition among home buyers continued to push prices to record levels in many areas………..

Interest rate hike won’t cool Canada’s housing market, say experts in March, 2022

Housing experts say prospective homebuyers hoping Wednesday’s interest rate hike will cool the country’s heated real estate market will likely be disappointed.

They believe pent-up demand for homes is so high and supply still so scarce that the Bank of Canada’s decision to hike the rate to 0.5 per cent won’t take much of an edge off the real estate market.

“In the past, when there was an interest rate increase coming, people would be like ‘maybe it’s not the time to buy,’ but it’s the opposite,” said Michelle Gilbert, a Toronto broker with Sage Real Estate Ltd……….

Is the Toronto Housing Market (Really) Starting to Cool in March, 2022?

At first, it seemed a whisper on the wind, a faint rumour, a nearly-imperceptible shift: the last two weeks of February in the Toronto housing market seemed, well, slower.

Agents, who had spent months, if not the past two years, coaching clients through some of the toughest GTA market conditions ever seen, suddenly realized there were fewer participants at offer night. Bully offers made a comeback. And buyers — many of whom had been searching endlessly only to experience rejection after rejection — were getting in.

Chatter began to circulate on real estate Twitter among listing agents who were receiving far fewer showings for their properties — a marked turnabout from January, which kicked off the year with the second-highest ever sales volume for the month, despite historically low inventory…………

Toronto’s most pet-friendly neighbourhoods ranked in February, 2022

A Canadian rental community and listing site, liv.rent, has ranked Toronto’s most pet-friendly neighbourhoods.

The rankings are based on factors such as proximity to parks, off-leash dog areas and pet shops.

The website noted that Toronto was recently ranked as one of the 10 most dog-friendly cities in the world.

“It’s not hard to see why — the city is home to over 230,000 dogs, has over 114 pet shops and 65 off-leash dog areas, and affords easy access to plenty of trails and parks,” noted the website………………

LACKIE: Despite all the hate mail good realtors still valuable in January, 2022

And week after week, no matter the topic — it could be something as simple and straightforward as monthly market stats or as controversial as hypothesizing about how the government might slow the proverbial freight train down — the comments and emails roll in with people absolutely ripping on real estate agents.

It would seem that some sincerely believe we are where we currently find ourselves (you know, in the midst of an affordability crisis and the tightest housing market on record) almost entirely because of an industry populated by sleazy agents and their corrupt practices…….

House Price Index rose 26% in 2021, fastest pace on record in January, 2022

The Canadian Real Estate Association’s House Price Index rose by 26.6 per cent in the 12 months up to December, the fastest annual pace of gain on record.

The group, which represents more than 100,000 realtors and tabulates sales data from homes that listed and sell via the Multiple Listings Service, said the supply of homes for sale at the end of the month hit an all-time low.

After pausing for a few weeks in the early days of the pandemic, Canada’s housing market has been on an absolute tear for the past two years, as feverish demand from buyers wishing to take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates has drastically outpaced the supply of homes to buy…………..

Toronto Market Update: Looking Back at the Year That Was 2021 in January, 2022

Rich people are scooping up Toronto’s luxury homes faster than ever – blogTO in January, 2022

It was a sizzling hot year for housing markets across Canada’s largest metropolitan areas. No stranger to skyrocketing home sales and prices, the Greater Toronto Area was once again an extremely competitive place to buy in 2021.

Stratospheric housing prices in the region may be a deterrent to some, but it turns out that the rich and ultra-rich are not shying away from the GTA’s high-priced housing, the region outpacing every other Canadian market in luxury home sales.

GTA home prices still forecast to rise 11 per cent in 2022 even with expected interest rate hikes: Royal LePage

Real estate brokerage Royal LePage says that the expected rise in interest rates in 2022 “may not be enough to offset the significant upward price pressure” on homes, especially in the Greater Toronto Area where it expects the cost of the average property to go up by double-digits once again.

The brokerage said that the aggregate price of a home in the Greater Toronto Area increased by 17.3 per cent in 2021 to $1,119,800 as demand continued to outpace supply.

It is forecasting that in 2022 prices in the GTA will rise by another 11 per cent, with the aggregate home price reaching $1,243,000 by the fourth quarter………

Scarborough bungalow sells in four days for $410K over asking in January, 2022

The Toronto real estate market is unprecedentedly competitive, and motivated buyers looking to snag a property are resorting to bully offers well over asking, as was the case for a recently sold bungalow.

The home, located at 63 Joanna Drive in Toronto’s Wexford-Maryvale neighbourhood, hit the market with an asking price of $999,998. It sold just four days later after receiving an early offer of $1,410,000.

“We did have an offer date set but received a pre-emptive offer,” listing agent John Perioris told Daily Hive.

The house is a three-bedroom, three-bathroom bungalow with updated appliances, spacious rooms, a sizeable backyard, and a finished basement with its own kitchen and bathroom, meaning it has the potential for rental income………..

GTA luxury real estate market soared 224% in 2021

The GTA real estate market soared sky-high in 2021, and the luxury market was no exception to that.

In fact, according to a new report from Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, the number of luxury properties in the GTA sold over $4 million shot up a whopping 224% compared to 2020 with a staggering 805 properties changing hands.

“Canada’s real estate market was redefined in 2021,” said Don Kottick, President and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. “There has been a transformative change in Canadians’ perceptions of the importance of their homes as an investment in lifestyle and pleasure, physical sanctuary and security, as well as financial stability and generational wealth.”………

Toronto house sells in three days for $521,000 over asking in January, 2022

Toronto real estate prices shot so far out of control over the past year that what would have previously been astronomical prices no longer cause a stir. But even in Toronto, when a house sells in just three days for a whopping $521,000 over asking, it makes you sit up and take notice.

The house in question, located at 119 The Westway Road in Etobicoke, hit the market on December 27 with an asking price of $999,000. It sold three days later for $1,520,000………

Only 3,200 homes are left for sale on Toronto’s market after record year in January, 2022

TORONTO, a city of more than 6.5 million people, has just 3,200 homes left for sale to start the year after a real-estate frenzy fuelled by low interest rates drove the market to record levels.

More than 121,000 homes were sold in Canada’s biggest city in 2021, up 28 per cent from the previous year and smashing the previous high set in 2016, according to data released on Thursday (Jan 6) by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

Buyers competed for the dwindling number of properties by bidding up prices: the average selling price for the year was nearly C$1.1 million (S$1.17 million) in Toronto, also a record and up 18 per cent from a year earlier. Sales weakened in the second half as supply dried up. A year ago, there were about 7,900 homes for sale. This will add urgency to a growing debate on addressing housing cost, which is spiralling out of reach for many in the largest cities………….

Toronto Real Estate Had its Biggest Year on Record in 2021

December capped off a record year for real estate in the Greater Toronto Area — both in sales and price.

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), 121,712 sales were reported through its MLS® System in 2021 — up an astounding 28% from 2020’s already hot market and some 7.7% over the previous record high set in 2016.

The real estate market as a whole was marred by severe lack of supply throughout 2021, with new listings up just 6.2% — a far lesser annual rate than sales. As such, the incredibly tight market led prices to jump a further 17.8% over 2020’s record ($929,636) to reach an average sale price of $1,095,475……..

Toronto home sales lead to record 2021 despite weaker December in January, 2022

TORONTO — A resurgence in demand for Toronto homes contributed to record residential real estate sales and prices in 2021 despite a dip in December.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said Thursday a record 121,712 homes were sold through its MLS system last year, up 28 per cent compared with 2020 and 7.7 per cent above the previous 2016 high of 113,040.

The average selling price set a peak of $1.095 million, up 17.8 per cent from the high the prior year of $929,636 as new listings didn’t keep pace with sales………