The government is at it again. On Tuesday they said they would make it easier for some people to get into the housing market by tweaking the mortgage stress test, making it slightly lower for insured loans. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), which regulates banks is expected to extend a new weekly benchmark to uninsured mortgages this spring. It’s a move that could be worrisome because some believe this will fuel prices even more, especially at the lower end of the market where condos are already in short supply. The number of condos available for sale in January was the lowest it’s been in 25 years. A lot of that is due to investors holding onto their units. Condo prices appreciated 15 percent last year.
Is the Toronto housing market picking up steam at an “uncomfortable” pace that resembles the sky-high gains of 2016? One just has to look at the number of multiple offers and wild bidding wars to know that demand is at an all time high. So what should we expect as we move forward? Hopefully as we start moving into the spring market many agents are anxious to see if listings will become more plentiful especially after this long family weekend. We as realtors continue to do what we always do. We perform our duties and forge ahead. Let us take this weekend to be with family and see what next week brings us. Happy Family Day!
The home sales market continues to boom in January, which traditionally has been a slow time for realtors. According to the stats that were just released for January, we started 2020 where 2019 left off, and that the Toronto and GTA real estate market is showing signs of strength in price and the continuation of a new upward trend. The average selling price for the City of Toronto is up 13.7% to $884,385 compared to a year ago.