House Prices Bounced Up By 6.5% in June than Last Year in Toronto
The dramatic rise of COVID-19 from rumors to a global pandemic is one major event no real estate expert in Toronto could foresee in June 2019. Although real estate activities in Toronto in 2019 increased when compared with TRREM stats for 2018. However, the rise in house prices wasn’t as sharp as we can see in June 2020. The major cause of the hike in house prices boils down to the excess of demand over supply. The response of the Canadian government towards salvaging the economy from getting into recession has also impacted Toronto’s real estate significantly.
Toronto is one of Canada’s real estate hotspots. As immigrants move into Canada each year, the demand for houses keeps rising. The Canadian government, through the immigrations office help to make housing available to newcomers through policies and partnerships with building contractors and real estate investors. Condominiums, storey buildings, and detached family houses are major types that dominate Canada’s real estate.
The Canadian Real Estate Association announced that the sales of homes rose by 63% when compared with stats from May. Also, the number of properties listed for sale increased by up to 49.5% based on month-by-month comparisons. This puts the house sales figures in June 2020 at a 6.5% increase over 12 months.
Toronto’s real estate market was almost grounded during the two months of the year 2020. This is largely due to the restrictions on non-essential services during the lockdown. However, as the lockdown began to ease gradually, the real estate market began to pick up. Between March to April, house sales started exploding. The average house prices in June rose to $539,000.
Prices of homes across Toronto have not risen evenly. Toronto and most of Canada’s biggest cities saw a spike in house prices. However, house sales have been tremendous across big cities in Canada. Sales in Ottawa rose by 55.6% while Calgary and Quebec City are up by 54.9 and 43.6%, respectively. Virtually all types of homes saw an increase in sales. However, Condo Mapper observed that condominium sales in Toronto in June are lower by about 2.1% when compared with stats from June 2019.
Moving forward, the fact that the movement of people into Canada has been temporarily suspended plus this present shortage in housing gives investors concern about the future of the market. However, there are hopes that the government in Canada will continue to do all it can to keep the real estate market activity. Current government policies, which include lower mortgage rates and employee income support, are already giving good indications that house sales may continue to soar during the second half of this year.
The Greater Toronto Area and its neighborhood are where most of Toronto’s sales of detached family houses have spiked. As the lockdown further eases, a lot of activities are expected to impact the current real estate trend buyers, and sellers are experiencing in Toronto’s market. Condo Mapper is monitoring real estate trends closely to help investors make more informed decisions on how, where, and when they invest in the real estate market.