Black Friday has surely made its way north of the border and line-ups will be forming outside stores in Toronto. More so this year because of the postal strike and parcels not arriving before Christmas. We have now entered what is known as the “Holiday Season” and the real estate market will reflect the change. There are a few different factors that may affect our market. One of them being the stock market with some steep losses this week and the global economy showing signs of weakening. With that being said, the freehold market saw some modest gains and the condo market continues to defy us all.
It’s that time of year again. Santa Claus is coming to town and if that doesn’t signal the start of winter then this week’s little blast of cold sure did. Despite the temperature drop there is no sign that the real estate market is slipping into hibernation just yet. A shortage of listings has been a problem for most of the year and we know buyers are frustrated but we encourage them all to keep looking. If you are thinking of putting your buying intentions on hold you might not like it when interest rates go up again in the New Year, more than once!
The Toronto Real Estate Board just released the market stats for October and we are seeing year-over-year increases in home sales and average sale prices. The average selling price for the GTA in October was $807,340 up by 3.5% compared to $780,400 in October 2017. For the City of Toronto the average sale price for October was $869,870 compared to $819,124 in October 2017 up by 6.3%!
Inquiring minds want to know if rising interest rates are having an impact on housing activity in Toronto? Frankly we are as curious as the next guy but as it stands now, we have not seen much change. Overall activity in the 416 continues to be strong as demonstrated by multiple offers and rising prices across every category of shelter. Generally, mortgage rates tend to rise when the economy is growing, the job market is healthy and wages are rising. With two months left in 2018 there is still plenty of transactions on the horizon and our research shows there are plenty of buyers waiting for the perfect home.
Come November, we're firmly into fall but lately the real estate market feels like it's spring out there! Several crazy home sales happened last week including one in our office that had 26 offers and sold for 56% above the list price. One just has to look at the number of multiple offers to know that the demand is high. What's causing this excitement? Simple math ... pent up demand plus a lack of inventory. Also, the news of an interest rate hike, the third one this year has got some buyers motivated to get out there before they get shut out of the market.