Etobicoke Real Estate Remains Strong

The Etobicoke and Toronto real estate market has been going strong since the start of the year. The number of properties now on the market is up sharply from earlier in the year and we have shifted from a sellers-market into the beginning of a balanced-market. Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise the overnight rate and in turn signal a rise in borrowing rates generally. Banks have already made upward adjustments in their mortgage rates. The Greek financial crisis may cause the Bank of Canada to defer this adjustment, or keep it to a very modest increase.

Here are the official comments from the Toronto Real Estate Board:

May 5, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,898 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, representing a 34 per cent increase compared to April 2009. There were also 20,683 new listings in April – a 59 per cent annual increase. Both the sales and new listings results amounted to new records for the month of April under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries.


“The GTA resale market is functioning properly. Sales were high as buyers continued to take advantage of affordable home ownership opportunities. Listings grew as home owners reacted to strong sales and price growth,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Tom Lebour. “More balanced market conditions will result in sustainable rates of annual price growth in the second half of 2010.”


The average price for April transactions was $437,600 – up 13 per cent compared to the average of $385,641 recorded in April 2009.

“Home sales continue to be driven by many different segments of the market, with sales growth for all major home types in both the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “Home sales will remain strong in the second half of 2010, but will slip from the current record pace as borrowing costs rise.”

Here are all the charts... Click the chart to get a larger version.

Toronto Home Prices Soaring!

Toronto's real estate market was very active in February, with the average price of homes rising 5.5% from the month before and by over 19% from where prices were a year ago.

There were some 7,291 sales in the month making it the busiest February's on record!

So what does all this mean? We are certainly in a seller's market, with homes often selling within a week a prices that even the real estate agents can't believe. There are far more buyers than sellers right now. Low interest rates and strong consumer confidence have people in the mood to be buying property in Toronto. So, now is is a great time to be selling a Toronto property, a bit more challenging to be buying a home and getting good value for it. With a longer-term view of real estate, it is always a good time to be buying real estate. This is true across the range of homes, from Downtown condo's to mid-priced homes and even into the luxury market.

Expectations are that more people will be putting their homes up for sale in the coming weeks and months. This will increase the supply of homes for sale and

If you are in the market to buy or sell a property, let me know - I'm here to help you be successful!

Ralph Evans
www.RealEstateHelpDesk.ca