02/25/2023
Toronto real estate market slowly coming back to life
Toronto-area real estate buyers who sat out the fall market are suddenly back and ready to compete.
Spirited bidding is common for properties around the $1-million mark, which is typically the entry point for a single-family home. In that range, agents are regularly reporting sales with 10 to 20 offers.
To drum up that many bids, agents are listing with an eye-catching asking price, then setting a date for reviewing offers. In Scarborough, the three-bedroom detached house at 17 SandyHook Square was listed with an asking price of $899,000 and sold for $1.038 million with 16 offers.
At 58 Antique Dr. in Richmond Hill, Ont., a three-bedroom detached house was listed with an asking price of $1,299,900 and sold for $1,487,500 with 10 offers.
Most of the competition is taking place in the segment between $999,000 and $1.3 million. But even with multiple bids, the action is not approaching the frenzy at this time last year.
A house at 50 Dewhurst Blvd. was listed with an asking price of $995,000 and sold for $1,455,055. Sellers are also more realistic in the prices they are willing to accept. Still, even with the spurt of activity, many people are still cautious.
“Some buyers need a stronger sign that we’ve hit the bottom.” The combination of little supply on the market and a mortgage agreement set to expire recently prompted a couple to pay up, and their offer turned out to be higher than the bully bid.
That shift in attitude marked a change from even mid-January when the buyers refused to pay above $900,000.
Nationally, sales in January dropped 37.1 percent compared with January, 2022, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. The average price fell 18.3 per cent in January compared with the same month last year.
Farah Omran, economist at the Bank of Nova Scotia, says the historically low inventory the market has seen in recent months is likely subduing sales and also bolstering prices against softer demand.
Ms. Omran sees room for prices to decline farther in Toronto and other markets across Canada, but population growth, resilient labour markets and the expected stabilization in the Bank of Canada’s policy rate are some of the factors that should support price growth in the long term, she says.
Despite the numbers, some Toronto sellers are still looking for peak prices. In the luxury segment, many downsizers are holding firm.
For now, homeowners are only selling if they need to.
Credit: Image and information from the Globe and Mail
