Market Update November 2016

What to make of the fall 2016 real estate market in downtown Toronto? Let’s have a brief look at what’s happening.

There were rumblings of Ontario implementing a ‘Foreign Buyers’ Tax’ the same way BC had done this past summer. I don’t think it’s going to happen and neither does Premier Kathleen Wynne.

So what has been driving the Toronto real estate market? Some are blaming a different, home-grown source of the surge in demand: investors who are buying houses not as a place to live, but as a place to grow their money.

The craze has thrust many would-be investors into a market with extremely tight housing supply, where they compete with people who want to buy a home to live in, bidding up prices.

We can also look at the current (lack of) condo inventory in downtown Toronto.

Just 1,295 condos for sale on MLS in central Toronto. Down 42% from a year ago. Prices will continue to skyrocket.

Just 1,112 condos for rent on MLS in central Toronto. Down 30% from a year ago. Rents will continue to skyrocket.

So, in a nutshell, unless we see a significant increase in inventory in available condo, loft, townhouse and freehold listings, we can expect a significant increase in pricing – even with the federal government’s recently implemented changes to mortgage qualifications (which I still think was a prudent move by the Feds).

I will keep you posted as usual.