Back in the old days of real estate the Realtors® would work hard up until the end of June and then they would take the summer off, as did most of their clients. Over the past many years the Spring market has lasted well into the summer with usually just a short break in the dog days of August. We are definitely feeling old school with the slow pace of listings and even slower pace of sales heading into summer this year. It reminds us though, as the families stop thinking about real estate and start thinking about camp, that there is a new summer real estate season driven by the tens of thousands of students who flock to the city to study at one of the many universities. The smart ones are looking for rentals already and the rest will arrive over the next few months. This puts tremendous pressure on the city’s rental stock which in turn pushes at the lower end of the condo market as desperate parents buy condos for their lovely offspring that just couldn’t find that perfect apartment. And right now in Toronto the hottest part of our market is the entry level condo market.
The Toronto Real Estate Board reported that in the first two weeks of June the value of condominiums increased 23% over last year. Prices, however, have eased off slightly from their peak in April down a marginal 3%. We are not all that surprised as we continue to see reduced inventory, especially in the sub-$700,000 range where listings in the central core are down 33% over the previous week. Overall new condo listings were down 25% over the previous week but are up 12% over the same week last year. Sales declined for the third week in a row to 134 from 143 the previous week and the number of condos selling above their list price is down to 41%. Again the most active segment of the condo market was the sub-$700,000 with 49% of sales occurring over their listed price.
Unlike the condo market, the Toronto Real Estate Board reports that the Freehold market only increased in value 10% over the same time last year. Perhaps more importantly the average price of a detached home in the 416 is down 10% from its peak price at the end of April. Listings continue to decline as we approach the summer months and were down another 10% over the previous week. Sales also continued their declined in numbers down 10% from the previous week. For the first time this year the percentage of freehold properties that sold above their advertised price was below 50% coming in at 48%. Thinking in our old school way, we will see you on the dock in July. Bosley Real Estate Ltd. is a full service boutique brokerage operating in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Jordan and Port Hope, Ontario since 1928. We have four centrally located offices and over 250 sales representatives selling and leasing homes and condominiums in all the vibrant communities we work in. Our brand is well recognized internationally thanks to our unique affiliation with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Our sales teams meet weekly to discuss market conditions, trending topics, and anecdotes that more accurately reflect the true temperature of the real estate market.
