It’s that time of year again. Santa Claus is coming to town and if that doesn’t signal the start of winter then this week’s little blast of cold sure did. Despite the temperature drop there is no sign that the real estate market is slipping into hibernation just yet. A shortage of listings has been a problem for most of the year and we know buyers are frustrated but we encourage them all to keep looking. If you are thinking of putting your buying intentions on hold you might not like it when interest rates go up again in the New Year, more than once!

Last week in the city the freehold sector saw a 24% drop in new listings. Sales were lower than the previous week, down 33%. We are still witnessing a bit of everything, with some listings reducing their prices after a few weeks and some still increasing their price when they don’t get a bidding war on offer night. Bidding wars are still happening with 65% of homes selling above their list price.

At this point in the year it’s fair to say that the condominium sector is the favorite child of Toronto’s real estate market. The condo sector had another stellar week with a 26% increase in new listings last week. While sales tapered off slightly by 11% the excitement is still evident with 50% of all sales trading at or above the list price. Nowhere is competition more fierce than in the central core in the $400K to $700K price range.