Toronto Real Estate Market Update – April 2014

The Toronto residential resale market continued a string of strong monthly performances in April, a trend that defines the spring market: low inventories, strong sales and rising average sale prices. Mortgage interest rates remain king. Historically low with no likelihood of an increase for the remainder of this year. As this market update was being prepared Laurentian Bank was offering a three year rate of just under 2 per cent, the lowest mortgage rate ever offered in Canadian history.

In April 9,706 residential resale properties were purchased, many by buyers eager to take advantage of the exceptional low rates. This compares with 9,535 sold last year, an increase of 1.8 per cent. The number of properties sold would have been much higher had there been more properties available for buyers to purchase. Most of the sales were in Toronto’s 905 region. In fact 60 per cent of all sales were in the 905 region, with only 3,544 in the actual City of Toronto. There are two obvious reasons for this trend. Property values are less in the 905 region, and buyers only pay one land transfer tax. With the average sale price steadily rising, the additional land transfer tax charged by the City of Toronto adds many thousands of dollars to the purchase of a home. A misguided tax that should be reconsidered.

In April the average sale price for all residential properties sold in the greater Toronto area came in at $577,898, the highest average monthly sale price ever recorded. In the City of Toronto the average sale price was more than 10 per cent higher at $641,666.00. Average sale prices for detached and semi-detached properties in Toronto also reached record levels. The average sale price for detached homes increased by 13.2 percent in April (as compared to last year) and the average price of semi-detached homes sky rocketed by 18 percent. Detached homes in Toronto now sell for $965,670 and semi-detached homes sell for $702,332. The most expensive neighborhoods for buying a home are in Toronto’s central district. The average price of a detached home in Toronto’s central districts comes in at an eye-popping $1,506,782. Semi-detached properties were not far behind at $942,267.

April’s average sale prices not only produced record numbers but they did so in record breaking speed. All properties in Toronto and the 905 region sold in only 20 days on average. Last year it took 23 days for all properties to sell. Within various neighborhoods the speed of sales was even faster. For example, in Toronto’s eastern region all detached homes sold in a remarkable 10 days. Not only were sales fast, but all on average sold for 104 per cent of their asking price. Although not as quickly, but still remarkable, all detached homes in the central district sold in 17 days, and for 100 per cent of their list price. It must be reiterated that the average sale price of these homes was $1,506,782.

Condominium apartments remain the most accessible housing type for Toronto buyers. In the City of Toronto alone 1,505 condominium apartments were sold in April, 3.2 percent more than last April. Prices, however, did not reflect what is occurring with detached and semi-detached housing sales. The average price of condominium apartments rose moderately by 1.8 percent to $384,758, still an affordable housing alternative, and probably the only choice available to first time buyers. More than 63 percent of all condominium apartment sales took place in Toronto’s central neighborhoods, predominately downtown.

April saw a considerable spike in high end property sales, properties having a sale price in excess of $1 Million. These amounted to more than 8 percent of the total sales for the month of April. 828 sales were reported in this category. Last year there were only 606, a 36 percent increase. More surprisingly were the number of properties sold achieving a sale price of more than $2 Million. 135 of these properties traded hands in April. Last April only 98 properties in this price range found new buyers, a year-over-year increase of almost 38 percent.

One of the factors driving this robust market is inventory levels. The greater Toronto area reported only 2.5 months of inventory. Some trading areas were in even greater need of new listings. Toronto’s eastern, and still less expensive districts, reported only 1.7 months of inventory. The number of new listings coming to market is not encouraging.

In April 17,351 new properties came to market, 4.5 percent less than in April 2013 (18,160). As we enter May, there are only 19,118 properties available for buyers to consider as compared to 20,866 last year at this time, 8.4 percent less choice. This is a difficult market for buyers. Limited choice, and competition for what is available. There is nothing that points to a change to this environment anytime soon.