What a difference a few weeks make. It wasn’t that long ago when agents were complaining about the lack of new listings. The newspapers were quick to pick up on this as the leading contributor to the number of multiple offers and the near double digit month over month property value increases. Well, it seems that our prayers have been answered as this week we experienced a sudden increase in new listings.

Like the returning geese anxious to touch down on Toronto green space, the other clear sign that Spring is here is the substantial (21%) increase in available listings in the freehold sector over the last two weeks. Unfortunately sales were not as frothy as expected. While we saw a sharp decline in sold listings throughout the downtown core (60%), the number of homes that traded in bidding wars has held relatively steady at between 58% and 64%. We recognize that the dip in sales is due in part to March Break.

New listings in the condominium market have increased by a more manageable 14.2% and once again the number of sales has outpaced the increase in listings. Over the last few weeks sales of condos have increased by 16% across the downtown core. That in itself is good news but what makes this an even better story is the fact that 25% of those suites sold at or above the list price. This is a 6% increase over the previous period.

It is our opinion that we will continue to see more properties come to market over the next few months before backing off during the summer; however, appetite remains strong. In the freehold sector we are still very much in a Seller’s market while the condominium sector remains relatively balanced