We are in the throws of the tightest market in Toronto history.
As we entered October, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) had only 11,255 available properties for beleaguered buyers to find, inspect and purchase. This is a startling 36.6 percent decline compared to the 17,765 resale properties on the market at this time last year. With about 100,000 people making their way to the GTA every year, there is simply not enough existing and new housing to meet our growing population.
With the combination of low inventories and buyer demand (not to mention the historically low interest rates), the pressure on prices is unprecedented.
In the City of Toronto, a detached property sold (on average) for $1,294,482 in September. Semi-detached properties were not far behind coming in at $887,916. In Toronto’s central districts, detached and semi-detached properties are even more expensive. A detached property (on average) now costs $2,214,998. A year ago that property could have been purchased for $1,688,581, an eye-popping difference of over $436,000! The average price for semi-detached properties in Toronto’s central district came in at $1,181,647. Last year that same property was selling for $956,480.
It is not surprising that detached and semi-detached properties are selling at lightning speed – 14.5 days for detached and 6.9 for semi-detached. This brisk market is another clear indicator that if you’re looking to buy you need an agent who is well connected and will get you into to see houses on the listing day, and no later.
Condo sales are increasing, but sale prices are not keeping pace with detached and semi-detached properties. Average sales price for condos increased by 6.5 percent over the same period, far less than the average sales price for detached at 23% and semi-detached properties at 19.7%. The available stock of resale condominium apartments is dwindling quickly. As supply and prices of detached and semi-detached properties climb out of reach for most buyers, the only alternative, short of moving to another city, is a condominium apartment. The only problem is that their availability is shrinking even faster than that of detached and semi-detached homes. Last September there were 6,659 condominium apartments for sale in the greater Toronto area. This September there were only 3,965, a decline of 40 percent.
If a buyer is prepared to consider the eastern reaches of Toronto, there are still apartments to be had for less than $250,000, and in some rare cases, for less than $200,000.
