That pretty much sums up the Toronto real estate market. Record level sales, record level prices as 8,014 residential homes sold in February through the Toronto Real Estate Board MLS system.

It’s obvious that many Greater Toronto Area households as well as overseas investors continue to view Canadian home ownership as a great long-term investment. The high demand for ownership housing is broad-based, with strong sales growth for most low-rise home types and condominium apartments. This makes sense given the results of a recent consumer survey undertaken by Ipsos, which found an even split between intending first-time buyers and existing homeowners who indicated that they were planning on purchasing a home in 2017.

While the demand for ownership housing grew over the past year, new listings were down on a year-over-year basis by 12.5% further putting pressure on prices. Annual rates of price growth continued to be strongest for low-rise home types, particularly detached houses. Growth rates for condominium apartment prices were also in the double digits, likely a result of strong demand from first-time buyers and investors.

Though it sounds self-serving, I cannot stress enough the importance of an experienced full time realtor to help you in the purchase and sale of property. Last year, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported approximately 226,000 transactions shared by about 49,000 realtors, or less than 5 sales each! Really not enough practice to stay on top of one’s game.

If you have any real estate questions, or know of someone considering buying or selling, give me a call. I’ll be happy to put my experience to work for you.

Have a great March!Spring is coming!

Howard

Your Friend in Real Estate.

PS. I’m never too busy for your referrals!