At this point in the year we should be gearing up for the spring market, but we just aren't feeling it yet. The consensus is we are a month behind other years. Like most of this year we are struggling with low inventories, a situation that has many puzzled. The pent up demand is evident. Walk into any open house on the weekend and see if you can find empty space on the floor to leave your shoes. The overall number of sales is beginning to perk up, but the action is still far below where it was at this time last year.
The media likes to sell sob-stories to survive. The TREB market report was released this week and the news release in the media was all doom and gloom. Well not so in the City of Toronto. The average selling price at the end of January was $766,616, up 5.5 percent from a year ago which was $727, 928. The number of new listings came in at 2,776 for the end of January slightly lower than a year ago at 2,886. But when you factor in the surrounding GTA it skews the City of Toronto stats. The annual rate of growth in the City of Toronto was driven by the condominium market sector, which has had double-digit annual growth.
The media likes to sell sob-stories to survive. The TREB market report was released this week and the news release in the media was all doom and gloom. Well not so in the City of Toronto. The average selling price at the end of January was $766,616, up 5.5 percent from a year ago which was $727, 928. The number of new listings came in at 2,776 for the end of January slightly lower than a year ago at 2,886. But when you factor in the surrounding GTA it skews the City of Toronto stats. The annual rate of growth in the City of Toronto was driven by the condominium market sector, which has had double-digit annual growth.
Blue Moon - “a second full moon in a calendar month” Has it cast a spell over the real estate market? It’s hard to believe that we are already a month into the new year. We have had some major snowfalls and plunging temperatures but so far this year it’s been a tepid real estate market. Agents are complaining there is nothing to show and as research indicates listings in both the freehold and condo sector have backed off substantially from a year ago while the demand is still strong. Perfect example: A house in prime Leslieville gets listed for $875,000 and on offer night there are 15 offers and it sells for $1,290,000. The buyers are out there. If you are thinking of selling NOW is the time!