Housing Market Conditions – 2017 Edition
Written by: Condo Chicks
Posted on: January 16, 2017
Get ready GTA, the market is projected for another year of rising home prices as Buyers compete amongst a continuing lack of property inventory.
2016 broke many housing records throughout the Greater Toronto Area, with an averaged sales record of $729,992 through all housing types sold, bringing sale prices up by 17.3% from 2015, marking 2016 as the 20th consecutive year that average house prices have gone up in Canada’s largest housing market.
In recent months, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board, the ratio of sales in comparison to active listings has been high in many neighbourhoods throughout the GTA. These neighbourhoods, and others similarly increasing are bound to continue the recent market trends, with a fairly healthy price increase. The cause? With a tight supply in todays market, Toronto faces a high-demand time that is certainly causing the boom to continue into the early 2017 market. It is always rather difficult to see a dramatic year turnaround in terms of pricing, especially when market trends are continuing equally from the year prior.
Sales volume in the GTA recorded at a new high according to the Toronto Real Estate Market, recording 113,133 transactions last year, which is an 11.8% rise from 2015.
The cost of a detached home sold in Toronto in the month of December averaged at approximately $1.3- Million, down 4.4% from the record of $1.35M in November, but up a staggering 23.7% from the year before. Meanwhile, the cost of the same style home sold through the remaining GTA averaged $1M, a 4% decrease from the month of November, though again up another 23.1% from December of the year prior.
Toronto’s suburban communities pricing increase takes a stance based on Toronto’s sky-rocketed market. As less find themselves the ability to purchase certain typed properties within the Urban dynamic of the Big City, more and more push the demand in close smaller markets. As long as the trends in Toronto continue, the trends in its surrounding areas will do the same.
What does this all mean for current prospective Buyers in todays market? Aside from the difficulties set out by October’s “Red Warning” and mortgage rule changes, today’s Buyers are projected to also continue to feel the impact of a lack of supply causing a steady price spike estimated for the next few months and onwards. Which in turn brings up the question – Is it the right time to buy? Well an easy answer is never probable. Though, at the rate of market trend increases viewed throughout the past few years, and the estimated projected trends for 2017, there may not be a better opportunity than the present!