Greater Toronto, Ontario, August 3rd, 2023 - The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board released its monthly MarketWatch statistics this morning summarizing July’s market activity reported by Toronto & GTA Realtors® through TRREB’s MLS® system. The report reflects modest gains in sales volume and selling price along with a significant increase in the number of homes newly listed for sale versus the year-earlier period. Talk by many of “the housing crisis” persisted, however, as overall inventory - represented by total homes available for sale - remained virtually unchanged. All figures quoted herein are, because of the strong seasonality of the residential real estate market, year-over-year comparisons except where specifically noted otherwise.
The Big Picture…
There was a total of 5,250 home sales reported in July, up 7.8%, at an average sale price of $1,118,374, up 4.2%. That includes all of TRREB’s market area and all home Types & Styles. As noted above, inventory remains relatively tight with a grand total of 15,371 homes available for sale compared to 15,329 last July.
It’s interesting to note that three years ago - after the market had reopened and rebounded from the COVID-19 shutdown - sales volume totaled 11,081 homes, a 29.5% surge from July 2019. Total Active Listings stood at 15,018, the Average Sale Price was $943,710 (+16.9% YoY), and the “LDOM” (more on that below) was down to 17 days.
By July 2021, the numbers were - respectively - 9,390 sales; 9,732 Total Active inventory; $1,062,256 overall average sale price; and 15 LDOM.
Specific Numbers
In Metropolitan Toronto - “The 416” (area code) - 518 Detached homes were reported “sold firm” this July, an increase of 9.1%, at an average sale price of $1,641,045, up 8.1%. As for “The 905” (area code - generally) - the balance of the Greater Toronto Area - 1,860 Detached homes sold, up 9.2%, averaging $1,367,718, up a more modest 3.8%.
Condo Apartment sales were also up, including a very strong performance in the Board’s market areas outside Metro Toronto. That “905 region” outside Toronto proper saw a 23.6% jump in sales volume for the sector to 492 apartments sold, averaging $697,393, up 5.7%. In “Toronto proper”, MLS® sales volume for the sector rose 5.9% to 1,013 units on the month at an average sale price of $753,520, relatively flat YoY at +1.2%.
Some areas, home styles and price points are still seeing success with “offer nights” where sellers enjoy receiving "multiple offers" - two or more offers on their property. Naturally, this occurs most in the more popular neighbourhoods and mainstream price points. We’d also note that Bungalows across the entire region continue to be in relatively high demand as “empty-nesters” look to downsize and - ideally - reduce the number of stairs in their homes, general maintenance demands, and so on.
That particular cohort is also driving the popularity of Bungalows in “Detached Condominium” lifestyle communities such as Alliston’s “Nottawasaga / Briar Hill” development and Ballantrae’s “Ballantrae Golf & Country Club” in north-eastern Whitchurch-Stouffville. Both of those feature golf course elements, though memberships and green fees aren’t necessarily included in the purchase price or monthly fees.
At a more modest price point are Bungalows in “Land Lease” communities such as Innisfil’s “Sandy Cove Acres”, New Tecumseth’s “Tecumseth Pines”, “Wilmot Creek” on the shores of Lake Ontario between Bowmanville and Newcastle in the Municipality of Clarington, Southern Durham Region. While price points are significantly lower for this type of home, the monthly fees can be significant.
Quoting from the Report…
Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron:
“Home sales continued to be above last year’s levels in July, which suggests that many households have adjusted to higher borrowing costs. With that being said, it does appear that the sales momentum that we experienced earlier in the spring has stalled somewhat since the Bank of Canada restarted its rate tightening cycle in June. Compounding the impact of higher rates has been the persistent lack of listings for people to purchase compared to previous years.”
TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer:
“Uncertainty surrounding the direction of borrowing costs, jobs and the overall economy has impacted home sales over the last two months. Over the long term, the demand for ownership housing will remain strong on the back of record population growth. However, many homebuyers will continue to be on the sidelines in the short term until the direction of monetary policy and the economy becomes clearer.”
TRREB CEO John DiMichele:
“We continue to suffer from a misalignment in public policy as it relates to housing. The federal government is targeting record levels of immigration for the foreseeable future, but we have seen very little tangible progress in creating more ownership and rental housing to accommodate this growth. Population growth is imperative for economic development; however, this growth will be unsustainable if people can’t find an affordable place to live. All three levels of government need to be on the same page to fix this problem.”
Finally…
“Forward Inventory”, calculated as Total Active Listings divided by the month’s sales volume total, gives us an idea of how long it would take to sell all the currently available inventory assuming the rate of sales continues at its current pace. That comes to 2.93, or just under three months. A year ago, that figure was 3.12 months. This is not the kind of number that supports the “housing crisis” theory; it’s far more in line with historical norms than at many points in time over the past few years. At least on the “available for sale” front. Affordability remains another issue.
Homes sold “10.5% faster” this July compared to last at just 17 days on the market [19 a year ago]. While that’s higher than it’s been at many times over the past few years, it’s still pretty quick, historically speaking.
That’s the “LDOM” figure, or “Listing Days on Market”, as opposed to the “PDOM”, or “Property Days on Market” seen in the YoY Summary chart above. TRREB describes the difference in that latter metric as: "Average Property Days on Market ("Avg. PDOM")...takes into account sold properties that were listed more than once by the same combination of owner, brokerage and salesperson during the original contract period" as opposed to the former metric which only takes into account the timeframe of the listing that was in effect when the property actually sold.
As such, “PDOM” is - overall - the more relevant measure. Unfortunately, it’s “incomplete” in that it doesn’t account, for example, for properties sold on the second or third (or more) listing attempt IF those subsequent listings were with a different owner name and/or listing brokerage and/or listing sales representative.
That’s it for this round. Thank-you, as always, for stopping by. Any time you have questions about the market, the home buying and/or selling process, or anything else “residential real estate related”, drop us a line at the link below. Enjoy the summer! ??????????????
Questions? Comments? Drop us a line!…
Set Up Your Own Customized SmartSearch
What's your property worth today?
JustBungalows.com Home Page
Questions? Comments? ...We'd to hear from you!
Browse GTA Bungalows by City / Region:
Durham Region | Halton Region | Peel Region | Simcoe County | Toronto by Boroughs | York Region
Browse "Beyond the GTA" Bungalows by City / Region:
Brant & Brantford Township | Dufferin County | Grey County | Guelph & Wellington County | Haldimand County | Haliburton County | Hamilton [City] | Hastings County | Kawartha Lakes | Kitchener-Waterloo & Cambridge | Muskoka District | Niagara Region | Northumberland County | Parry Sound District | Peterborough City & County | Prince Edward County
