Saturday, February 29, 2020

■This Month in Real Estate | FEBRUARY, 2020


■Condo & Rental Market Report | Q4 2019


Condo Market Report

TREB Releases Q4 2019 Condo Market Statistics TORONTO, January 15, 2019- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,367 condominium apartment sales through TREB’s MLS® System in the fourth quarter of 2019. This result was up by 3.8 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.

New condominium apartment listings were down substantially by 11.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis when comparing to Q4 2018. This suggests that condo market conditions tightened further over the past year.

“The condominium apartment market segment continued to perform well in 2019, with strong growth in sales and average price. 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,” said Mr. Collins.

The average price of a condominium apartment increased by 10.4 per cent from $558,733 in Q4 2018 to $616,591 in Q4 2019. Year-over-year price growth in the City of Toronto, which accounted for 71 per cent of transactions, was similar to the GTA as whole, at 10.3 per cent, resulting in an average price of $660,379.

“Tighter market conditions in the GTA condo market translated into increased competition between buyers and an accelerated pace of price growth. TREB continues to urge policy makers to develop strategies to bring more ownership and rental supply online, so that balanced market conditions and a moderate pace of price growth can be sustained over the long term,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

Rental Market Report

TREB Releases Q4 2019 Condo Rental Market Stats TORONTO, January 15, 2019- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 6,758 condominium apartment rentals through TREB’s MLS® System in the fourth quarter of 2019. This result was up by 11.8 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.

The number of condominium apartments listed for rent at some point during Q4 2019 was up by 35.6 per cent compared to Q4 2018.

“Strong job growth across a number of different sectors coupled with the GTA’s renowned cultural diversity continued to fuel robust population growth in 2019. Obviously, all of these people needed a place to live, with many initially pointed to the rental market. This obviously underpinned the growth in condominium apartment rental transactions,” said TREB President Michael Collins.

Average condominium apartment rents were up on a year-over-year basis for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. The average one-bedroom condominium apartment rent was $2,209 in Q4 2019 – up 3.1 per cent compared to Q4 2018. The average two-bedroom condominium apartment rent was up by 3.4 per cent over the same period to $2,868.

“The condominium apartment rental market became progressively better supplied throughout 2019, as annual growth the number of units listed for rent outstripped growth in rental transactions. The increase in units listed was likely due, at least in part, to condominium apartment investor-owners listing their units for rent in response to extremely strong average rent growth in 2018 and 2019. This resulted in average rent growth moderating closer to the rate of inflation,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

■Market Watch | February, 2020

GTA REALTORS® RELEASE JANUARY 2020 STATS

TORONTO, February 6, 2020 - TRREB President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 4,581 home sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in January 2020 – up by 15.4 per cent compared to January 2019. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up by 4.8 per cent compared to December 2019.

“We started 2020 where 2019 left off, with very strong growth in the number of sales up against a continued dip in the number of new and available listings. Tighter market conditions compared to a year ago resulted in much stronger growth in average selling prices. Steady population growth, low unemployment and low borrowing costs continued to underpin substantial competition between buyers in all major market segments,” said Mr. Collins.

The MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark price was up by 8.7 per cent compared to January 2019 – the highest annual rate of growth for the Benchmark since October 2017. The condominium apartment market segment continued to lead the way in terms of MLS HPI® price growth, but all home types experienced price growth above seven per cent when considering the TRREB market area as a whole. The average selling price in January was up by 12.3 per cent, driven by the detached and condominium apartment segments in the City of Toronto.

“A key difference in the price growth story in January 2020 compared to January 2019 was in the low-rise market segments, particularly with regard to detached houses. A year seems to have made a big difference. It is clear that many buyers who were on the sidelines due to the OSFI stress test are moving back into the market, driving very strong year-over-year sales growth in the detached segment. Strong sales up against a constrained supply continues to result in an accelerating rate of price growth,” said Jason Mercer, TRREB’s Director of Market Analysis and Service Channels.