Week 170: Navigating Fast-Moving Real Estate in a High-Speed Economy

I don’t think rates are going up tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the big day, June 7, when the Bank of Canada will finally announce what they will do with their lending rate. Will it remain on hold? Will they increase, or will they decrease?

Well, anybody with any sense knows that we probably won’t see any rate decreases in this calendar year if we’re lucky, we might see one at the very end, but it’s doubtful.

However, as I discussed last week, economists and other pundits are still split on whether rates will go up tomorrow.

Some economists even saying that the housing market is stabilizing a little too quickly, but I think I’ve said this before, and I don’t mind being a broken record on it, but in 2023 and beyond, economies move extremely fast, much faster than they used to,

Information, travelling at the speed of light, and people making lightning-fast decisions Mean that recessions and ups and downs are all processed a lot more quickly right now, and it will get even faster in the future.

So another reason to stop comparing what happened in the 80s and 90s to what could potentially or is happening now is that recessions don’t take ten years to run their course. We can get through one within a few quarters or even a year.

So whatever we’re feeling now or whatever is to come will move through our economy a bit as fast as an extra spicy taco moves through my body.

What I’m trying to get out here is to help you understand the importance of real-time market tracking in real estate, where we’ve been conditioned and used to reviewing monthly figures a week or so after the month’s end, which is a massive mistake especially if you’re actively trying to buy or sell in the market.

Now you all know that I don’t subscribe to the day trader mentality when talking about real estate, so most of the time, people are not buying an investment. They’re buying a home, so when the time is right, and your finances can handle it, you buy as best you can when you are ready to make that purchase.

It’s important to look at the market to see what’s going on and whether it favours sellers or buyers. Still, you’re making a lifestyle decision for yourself for your family, And the investment should be a secondary thought for you.

Still, your real estate professional, hopefully, you’re guided by a great one, will be able to advise on the investment side of things because that is a consideration. Still, it shouldn’t be the driving factor as a buyer or seller even.

But tracking the market in real-time allows you to spot trends as they’re happening versus once they’ve already happened; so, for example, looking at supply, You’ll notice that the number of actual listings is up in most communities except a little dip here in the luxury communities and Leaside area but if you look at the months of inventory statistic, it’s up all over the urban center. However, in the luxury market in North Lawrence Park, Rosedale, etc., condos’ inventory is down. Leaside months of inventory is down for condos. Birch Cliff houses months of inventory Down Kingston Rd., Corredor condos months of inventory down.

Kingston Road is an area that is very interesting to me and has been for several months now, up to two years since we bought our home there.

Driving up and down Kingston Road from the Cliffside area, like just before Midland through the Port Union, you’ll see all those old motels.

75% of those motels have development applications. The rest are in a private sale negotiation.

Merge condos, where Danforth and Kingston Road split off or merge depending on which way you’re going, will be coming online soon. It’ll be the first new condo to occupy along that Kingston Rd., Corredor, to be followed by many others, as the freehold product in that Kingston Rd. Corredor gets more expensive. People will look for condos.

As folks become empty-nesters and don’t have any use for their larger homes in the area. They will look to those local condos instead of leaving the area like they might’ve been forced to do.

So not only are houses a phenomenal investment along Kingston Road right now, but so are condos because they’re relatively affordable right now, but that will not last too far into the future as the condo boom along Kingston Road becomes more of a reality.

Imagine Corktown 10 years ago or 15 years ago. That’s where Kingston Road is now in terms of investment-style properties and homes in general.

Ten years from now, your home along that Kingston Rd., Corredor, right from Cliffside all the way through to Port Union, Will build enough equity for you so you can retire very comfortably. A lot of people are investing in that Corredor right now, and I recommend that you consider that for yourselves as well.

So where is the market right now? Things are a bit slower, and listing supply is up, especially in our urban communities. We’re seeing some properties not get offers on their designated offer night and being relisted a few days later for a higher, more reasonable price and then selling. Still, like our property at 72 Rushbrook, we generated four offers, although I did expect more And sold it for a great price with thrilled sellers.

So some sellers are still taking big checks to the bank, but not all, so the peak of this run is behind us, but things are still performing very well.

Condos are also experiencing some good buyer activity at the moment, especially luxury condos And luxury houses. However, condos, especially ones with nice terraces in boutique buildings, are selling quickly from 1 1/2 million up to $6,000,000.

Nine of the most expensive houses sold in our urban communities exceeded their already high list price, proving that people are still willing to spend their money in all price ranges.

So with tomorrow’s announcement less than 24 hours away, I feel like whether there is an increase or a halt, I feel like we will head into a bit of a low this summer, as we experienced over the past couple of weeks with things slowing down dramatically compared to the heat of March and April but I don’t think a 25 basis point increase is going to take that much heat out of the market.

Still, again I don’t think there will be an increase tomorrow until we have another month of increasing inflation.

What do you think?

And if you’d like to book a call to discuss your specific real estate needs, you can do that here, and I really look forward to helping you.

Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you next week. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog so you get this in your inbox asap, and we’ll see you on Youtube!

(please subscribe to the YouTube Channel here, where I go over all of these reports in more detail)

Urban Markets: Downtown & Surrounding Areas
House Average Price: $1,787,959
House Median Price: $1,500,000
538 Active Listings
91 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 2.37(up from 2.04 last month)
Average Days on Market ~7.83

Condo Average Price: $903,799
Condo Median Price: $782,500
1664 Active Listings
144 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~3.16  (up from  2.81 last month)
Average Days on Market (DOM) ~12.41

Urban North: Rosedale, Deer Park, Moore Park, Forest Hill, & Lawrence Park
House Average Price: $3,418,638
House Median Price: $2,550,000
155 Active Listings
11 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 3.47(up from 3.11 last month)
Average Days on Market ~ 12.46

Condo Average Price: $1,597,945
Condo Median Price: $1,250,000
221 Active Listings
21 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 3.99 (down from 4.05 last month)
Average Days on Market ~ 8

Leaside, Davisville, Yonge & Eglinton
House Average Price: $2,371,364
House Median Price: $2,375,000
43 Active Listings
1110 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 1.57  (up from 1.43)
Average Days on Market  5

Condo Average Price: $804,421
Condo Median Price: $725,000
120 Active Listings
15 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 2.32 (down from 2.75 last mth)
Average Days on Market ~ 13.47

Birch Cliff
House Average Price: $1,232,209
House Median Price: $1,048,000
26 Active Listings
11 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 1.63 (down from 1.76)
Average Days on Market ~ 10

Kingston Rd Corridor to Highland Creek
House Average Price: $1,362,250
House Median Price: $1,076,000
74 Active Listings
8 Firm Sales This Week
Months of Inventory (MoI) ~ 2.14 (up from 1.71)
Average Days on Market ~ 7.5

Condo Average Price: $592,000
Condo Median Price: $540,000
48 Active Listings
7 Firm Sales This Week
MoI ~ 2.46 (down from 3.30)
Average Days on Market ~ 9.57

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