Back in the good old days we used to complain about the cold. That got a bit boring so the people who report the weather threw new terms at us like polar vortex and frost quakes. None of us can really explain these phenomena but they don’t just sound cold....they sound super cold. It got us thinking....maybe it’s time to coin a new phrase for Toronto’s current real estate climate. So far we have “exiguous domicile stratas”. In other words...not enough listings.

The freehold market continues to tighten with a further drop of 30% in available listings since last week. With fewer listings it also comes as a surprise that sales have remained exceptionally strong through the week. Overall, sales have increased 21%, with 40% of sales happening at or above the list price. The hot spot of the market this week was the east core, where sales in the mid-range segment ($700k-$1.7m) nearly tripled. It seems clear that while we are not seeing record numbers of multiple offers, activity is still robust. All signs point to a stronger than normal spring market.

The condo market is exhibiting some very “freehold like” characteristics lately. This week there were 7% fewer listings on the market but we are excited to see a 17% spike in sales week over week. Of those recorded sales, nearly 9% sold at or over the list price. We don’t see this trend continuing for much longer. As many as 20,000 new units will be delivered over 2014 and that is likely to have some pressure on prices and number of transactions.