Todor Todorov's blog

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it has begun to impact the real estate market in a negative way, or at least one part of it — condos in downtown Toronto. The downward trend in this sector of the market has led some to sell their condos in a hurry — and in some cases before the building has even been built.

It was a red-hot summer for the Toronto real estate market. It might not makes sense on the surface, considering that Canada’s largest city and the rest of the country are still muddling through a pandemic and a recession. However, once you start digging into the trends, you see that pent-up demand, historically low interest rates, and low supply are contributing to the surge in sales activity and home prices since the height of the virus outbreak.

Tighter condo market conditions were reported over the past year, with new condo listings diving by 11.9 per cent at the end 2019, compared to Q4 2018, says the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)

As for sales, GTA realtors accounted for 5,367 condo sales, up 3.8 per cent.

“Condominium apartments provide a relatively affordable entry point into the home ownership market for first-time buyers, who account for a substantial portion of demand each year,” noted Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins.

The Firm Capital report cited RBC Economics data that said the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA) needs 9,100 more vacant units to reach a “healthy” vacancy level of three per cent.

The RBC report also said the Toronto CMA needs 22,000 new rental apartments and rented condominium apartments per year to satisfy demand between 2019 and 2023.

The high cost of housing in the Greater Toronto Area is leaving many residents side-lined with little expectation that much can be done.

A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute finds that both homeowners and non-homeowners believe that real estate in the GTA is “unreasonably high” but there don’t think there’s much the government can do at this late stage.

Comparing a similar survey in 2015, ARI found that things have worsened with a larger share of respondents saying they are “miserable” based on their personal experiences.

Home sales in the Toronto housing market showed some improvement in June along with the average selling price.

Toronto Real Estate Board members sold 8,082 homes through the MLS in June; 2.4% more than in June 2017 and a 17.6% jump from May 2018.

The market continues to be volatile following policy changes including the B-20 mortgage guidelines which tightened lending conditions for borrowers.

The board said Monday that while the number of sales was down year-over-year to 7,834 units, the annual rate of decline was less than reported in February, March and April, when sales were down by more than 30 per cent.

2017 Sales Award!!!

The slow down in the Canadian housing market seen late in 2017 is likely to get worse before it improves according to RBC Economics.

In his latest housing report senior economist Robert Hogue says that the market is likely to soften further as the pool of buyers who were pre-approved for a mortgage under the old rules runs out.

He notes there could be a “bumpy ride” ahead in the coming months as the spring buying season kicks in following the traditionally slow start to the year.