Episode 110: Multiple offers and low supply still rule Toronto’s urban markets

Real Estate and election years are the absolute worst. Soundbite after soundbite of meaningless talk being spewed by politicians on all sides of the table. Honestly, it’s hard to take any politician seriously when they’re spouting off BS soundbite after BS soundbite.

Did you hear Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman go off about Toronto real estate last week? An absolute pile of hot garbage spewed out of her mouth, saying things like “housing prices have nearly doubled under this Liberal government” and other famous soundbites like “will anyone without a trust fund be able to buy in Toronto?”

You can listen to her here.

After her rant, her entire caucus erupted with praise, and one member was even heard yelling “shame” like it’s some sort of Liberal conspiracy to make Toronto unaffordable.

None of what she said makes any real sense. There is no plan to make Toronto affordable in the way they want to make Toronto affordable.

It’s all nonsense to get the attention of Gen Xers who are confused enough to believe Toronto real estate will be affordable for them under a Conservative government.

Everyone is selling the non-existent magical pill that will make real estate affordable again for the “poor Gen X’ers are all priced out of the market.”

Or the “when my parents came to Toronto, they were able to buy a house on a single income.”

I feel for potential buyers who are having trouble getting into the market. They have good jobs and have worked hard to save their money. Some have tapped the bank of mom and dad to make their real estate dreams come true.

Some of these potential buyers slowly understand that what they hoped to buy is not within reach, and they adjust their expectations and buy what they can. Compromising on some things and not on others.

Some buyers come to that realization quickly, and some need to get slapped around by the market to understand. Some are led by incompetent realtors that aren’t advising properly. And, some are scrapping the idea of buying altogether and entering the rental market.

The rental market should be the real focus of all levels of government in terms of affordability. Not buying.

So what does this all mean to you?

Let’s talk about the economy, interest rates, and provincial/federal meddling.

Tomorrow we’ll have an announcement to confirm the 0.5% rate jump, which most banks have already built into their products.

After tomorrow’s announcement, there are five more scheduled announcements. Will each one of those result in a 0.5% increase? The Federal government has learned from past mistakes and understands that aggressively increasing interest rates to tackle inflation is not the best solution.

Are you familiar with yield curves? The inverted curve has signalled seven of the last eight recessions. One of the main reasons our market tanked in the early ’90s was our largest trading partner, the U.S., diving deep into a recession. This Reuters article addresses why it may not be signalling another recession.

Believe it or not, Canada and the U.S. were in this same position pre-COVID. The yield curve was inverting, and the BoC started dropping rates to combat this. Then we got COVID, and all hell broke loose. Maybe COVID was manufactured to prevent the entire planet from going into a deep recession? Kidding!

As discussed in last week’s update, today’s Toronto is a different Toronto. Our economy is more robust, and demand for our real estate has never been this great.

The federal and provincial governments have made some recent announcements that will do nothing to tackle affordability.

Affordability in the context of buying is not a problem that can be solved. The federal and provincial governments should focus on creating more rental housing FAST, reinstating rent control, and closing loopholes that allow landlords to execute “renovictions” by adding pretty balconies.

The province did nothing to address this.

Luckily the City of Toronto is taking affordability more seriously and considering plans to allow as-of-right zoning for up to four units on ANY residential lot from downtown to the suburbs. That’s a step in the right direction.

Anyway, numbers are all solid across the board, and new listings are relatively stable with some increases, but nothing to write home about.

Most sellers are still in control and multiple offers and bully bids are a daily occurrence.

Just remember to not max max out when offering as we have a higher interest rate market coming up.

Have a question about something you’ve seen another realtor post? Ask! I guarantee you there will be more to the story.

Have a wonderful day, and don’t forget to share this. We have over 42,000 subscribers, and the list keeps growing. Thank you for that!

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We post some real-time stats on our channels you don’t want to miss. You can also catch up on my 2022 real estate forecast post here.

And, please find me on Twitter as I’ve been more active there these days.

That’s all for today; thanks so much for your energy and attention. If you want some clarity on the market and your specific situation, please DM, comment below or email Ara@thespringteam.ca.

Urban Markets: Downtown & Surrounding Areas
House Average Price: $1,809,690
House Median Price: $1,575,000
428 Active Listings
98 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 1.072
Average Days on Market ~ 9 DoM

Condo Average Price: $909,481
Condo Median Price: $782,000
1158 Active Listings
180 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 1.12
Average Days on Market (DOM) ~ 10.44

Urban North: Rosedale, Deer Park, Moore Park, Forest Hill, & Lawrence Park
House Average Price: $3,128,125
House Median Price: $2,687,500
110 Active Listings
20 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 1.47
Average Days on Market ~ 24 DoM

Condo Average Price: $1,280,588
Condo Median Price: $1,075,000
176 Active Listings
17 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 1.76
Average Days on Market ~ 19.1

Leaside, Davisville, Yonge & Eglinton
House Average Price: $2,874,717
House Median Price: $2,580,000
43 Active Listings
13 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 1.07
Average Days on Market ~ 6.92 DoM

Condo Average Price: $878,250
Condo Median Price: $718,000
108 Active Listings
15 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 1.18
Average Days on Market ~ 6.6 DoM

Birch Cliff
House Average Price: $1,280,605
House Median Price: $1,280,000
22 Active Listings
8 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 0.98
Average Days on Market ~ 5.6 DoM

Kingston Rd Corridor to Highland Creek
House Average Price: $1,444,278
House Median Price: $1,402,500
61 Active Listings
7 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 1.10
Average Days on Market ~ 7.07 DoM

Condo Average Price: $875,013
Condo Median Price: $680,000
21 Active Listings
3 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 0.63
Average Days on Market ~ 12.7 DoM

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