July Toronto Real Estate Market Showing Signs Of A Traditional Summer (For A Change)
Since starting in real estate back in 1980 I’ve seen many ups and downs of the Toronto market over the years – booms, busts and lots of in between.
Almost New Downtown Toronto One-Level 2-Bedroom Suite
In the ‘old days’ before the early 2000’s a traditional Toronto summer house and condo market meant a slow-down of activity and sales… listings would decline, buyers would relax on vacation or stay in because of the heat.
That all changed over the past several years as increased buyer activity kept the market momentum going strong through the traditional ’slow periods’ of summer and December/January.
However I think buyer fatigue from all the manufactured multiple offers and market frenzy of this spring has caused us to revert to a more traditional summer market!
As of mid-July the Toronto Real Estate Board reported 2,790 sales, down 37% from the same period in 2009. The average sale price for the period was $427,931 – up a modest 8% from a year ago and down 1.7% from the June 2010 average price.
The listing inventory is 22,886, down slightly from June but up 27.4% over July 2009.
Critically the bellweather ratio of sales-to-listings dropped into neutral market territory for the first time since March 2009 – at mid-month it was at 25.4% (24-28% is a neutral market, below 24% is a buyer’s market and above 28% is a seller’s market).
Thus, for the first time in 15 months buyers have a much better opportunity to negotiate an excellent price for themselves. Sellers who are moving up or down in the market still benefit on their buying side of the move.
The Bank of Canada moved the bank rate up 0.25% this past week bringing the regular bank’s prime rate up to 2.75% – still very modest. With many institutions offering Prime minus 0.6% for a variable mortgage, that rate now sits at just above 2%. Five-year fixed mortgages can easily be had in the low 4’s.
July Toronto Real Estate Market Showing Signs Of A Traditional Summer (For A Change) is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates