Toronto has a fever and it's not just World Cup fever either. Sure there is a lot of cheering going on in the streets but it's not a celebration of a soccer victory. This time, people are cheering about the value of their homes. The condominium market, the bellwether of real estate health, has been very strong despite claims of overbuilding, and single family homes in the city are averaging over $1 million. Clearly Toronto has a supply and demand issue with over 64% of homes and 25% of condos selling at or over the list price. Weekend open houses and patio seating in Little Italy share one problem....crowd control.
Last week new freehold listings jumped substantially. Generally more listings mean more choice for buyers but last week there were more buyers too. The end result was that we saw a 7% increase in the percentage of listings sold at or above the list price (64%). The hot spots in the core were the first-time market in the East and the move-up market in the West where 78% and 75% of homes sold in multiple offers respectively.
The condominium market continues to keep pace as well. Despite a nearly 31% increase of new listings on the market last week, sales were strong. Overall, 25% of condos sold at or above the list price, however the east core continues to surprise. Sales in the move-up market, those at $400k and above, have been consistently frothy over the last few months with multiple offers taking place on nearly half the condos sold. No surprise in the high end condo market ($3m +) which remains very quiet.
