A few weeks ago we read a very interesting article that stated how smaller nuclear families are coming to terms with the fact that living in a popular major metro area in Canada is going to mean not living in a detached home, unless they experience major income increases or have some sort of windfall of good fortune like a lottery win. The high prices for real estate in popular regions like Vancouver and Toronto is something one just has to accept if you’re going to choose to live there.
But this article talked about how people are adapting to that challenge, and even finding ways to make it work with children living in the home too. Some of these people will be able to move into a more spacious home in the future, but many will be living in a condominium or something similar for the entirety of time they live in these cities. And that’s alright!
We’ve seen how the real estate markets in any city in Canada has been able to weather the economic storm of the last near year, and that’s good news for anyone who’s livelihood is related to the business. It remains as competitive a business as ever, though, and that’s why our online real estate lead generation system here at Real Estate Leads is so highly recommended for realtors who are looking for something of a leg up on their competition in the business.
And as you might expect, there’s always a whole lot more of it if you’re in real estate in a major metro area that’s also categorized as a ‘desirable city’.
But enough about that. We’re in the business of good news when it comes to real estate in Canada, and the following definitely qualifies as good news.
Up 90%
Condo sales in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) surged 90% year-over-year on the MLS for the first 2 weeks of January. Further, condo listings are up 66% over last year, and there is strong demand for condos in the downtown area of Toronto. All of this builds on the fact that for the second half of 2020 the condo market was fairly sluggish. That was evidenced in prices in the downtown core dipping about 10%. Some investors saw this as an opportunity, but the overall tone was one of trepidation and concerns about prices declining too much and threatening the health of the local real estate market.
All of this was then countered by real changes that actually began early last month, in December of 2021. Condo sales for that month increased by 75.9% year-over-year for the City of Toronto. There may well be all sorts of reasons for why buyers returned to buying condos in Toronto, but all of that likely doesn’t mean much here or to anyone who might be a prospective home buyer (and client as it were).
The fact of the matter is condos are selling well in metro Toronto right now, and that’s good news for realtors in the city and the condo owners who are pleased to see an appreciation of value that’s occurred for their small home in the sky.
Low Rates Meeting Soft Prices
So here we are now with the downtown Toronto condo submarket picking up from where December left off, with many buyers taking advantage of low interest rates and soft condo prices to become new homeowners. What’s also interesting is that market research surveys are indicating that the majority of these buyers are not investors, and rather are buying the condo as a primary residence for themselves.
The investor side of the coin still has to be a part of this; to that end it’s worthwhile to note that with a forecasted 1.2 million newcomers to Canada in the next three years and some 60% of them being economic class, there IS going to be a large demographic that will be looking to rent places to live that are near their workplaces in Canada’s major metro centres.
As if often the case, Q1-2021 may determine what happens for the rest of the year, and if that’s true then it’s going to be a year where many realtors in Toronto and Vancouver are going to have clients that are looking to buy a condo in the city, or sell one.
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