03 Nov Market Update October 2017
**City of Toronto Real Estate Market Update**
In the month of October, we continued to see a decline in sales activity year over year (YoY) for all home types in Toronto. However, we did begin to see strengthening in several key metrics for the Toronto market. Average prices showed strength YoY across most home types, other than detached houses, where we saw a modest decline of 1%. We continued to experience stagnant growth YoY for new listings hitting the market. We are also seeing signs of a normalization of new inventory when compared to September 2017, as there was pent up supply from the many properties that were re-listed in September, due to lacklustre sales activity in the summer months. Additionally, the number of active listings is up significantly YoY, a result of longer sales cycles (# of days on the market) and tempered demand when compared to October 2016.
Home prices look to have stabilized for the time being. However, with the recent mortgage qualification changes announced by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (more information found here), we will have to wait and see the effects come January 2018. We will likely see more aggressive buyers in November trying to enter the market and close their transactions before year-end.
There is still very strong demand in a number of neighbourhoods around Toronto, with many properties still attracting multiple offers. Over the past two weeks, I have begun to see more Realtors hold offer days – a strategy commonly used when demand is forecasted to be quite strong for a particular property. It will be interesting to see if the inventory of new listings picks up this month, as sellers who were thinking of holding off till the spring realize that the number of buyers may not be as strong when the new mortgage qualification rules come into effect on Janaury 1st 2018.
If you are interested in buying or selling or would like more information on your neighbourhood, or a neighbourhood of interest, feel free to call, text or email me at any time.
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