Toronto…We have a problem!

If you like old movies, the way I do, then you’ll remember the lines from the movie, the music man:

Well, ya got trouble,my friend, right here
I say, trouble right here in River City.

We got troubles in Toronto!

While we had a strong month of sales with 7,531 homes sold, the shockingly low inventory of 10,373 homes for sale is once again resulting in multiple offers and price increases. April’s average sale price of $1,153,269 is well on its way to reaching February 2023’s record prices.

Let me explain what I mean by that. The Toronto Real Estate Board calculates average price by the mix of homes sold. In other words, if only one house sold in Toronto for $1 million then the average price would be 1 million. If two houses sold, one for 1 million and one for $500,000 then the average price for the month would be $750,000. As a result of higher borrowing costs, more lower end properties are selling vs high-end properties.  Homes selling under $1.5 million are seeing hefty price increases even though these are not being reflected in the average price reports. Here are the April facts; 81% of the sales were under $1.5 million with 30% between $1 million and $1.5 million. While the high-end market may be less active than a year ago, it still is active with over 545 homes sold over$2 million 

We already have a housing shortage, and with 1.5 million new immigrants committed to come to Canada over the next 3 years, it’s not going to get any better. Have you heard of Gen Z (Zoomers), born between 1996 and 2010? They represent 20% of the population and the oldest is now 27 years old. Can you remember what you wanted to do when you were 27? I wanted to move out of my parents’ house, get my own apartment downtown, and party with my friends! The pressure on the housing market continues to rise!

It’s an interesting time, a time of opportunity.  If you are thinking about the market or know of somebody who’s thinking of buying or selling real estate, please have them reach out to me, I would love to put my expertise to work for them. I really appreciate your help in making my business better!

Have a great May,

Your Friend in Real Estate,
Howard