Thursday, April 5, 2012

March Market Watch Report. Still Strong!

Tight Market Drives Double-Digit Price Growth

TORONTO, April 4, 2012

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 9,690 sales through the TorontoMLS system in March 2012. This result was up by almost eight per cent in comparison to the 8,986 deals reported during the same period in 2011.

“The GTA resale market has not suffered from a lack of willing buyers this year. Buyers have been spurred on by the positive affordability picture brought about by low mortgage rates,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “The challenge has been a lack of inventory. Many listings have attracted multiple interested buyers. Strong competition has led to annual rates of price growth well above the long-term average.”

The average selling price in the GTA was $501,614 in March – up by 10 per cent in comparison to March 2011.

“The number of new listings was up last month in comparison to March 2011. However, based on the historic relationship between price and listings, the GTA resale market should be better supplied. If competition between buyers remains as strong as it is right now, we will almost certainly see an average selling price above $500,000 for 2012 as a whole,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.













Jonathan’s Opinion

Some might be wondering what is going in the Toronto Real Estate Market…why is it so
active? Why are properties selling so fast and for so much??

The main reason, as you know, is because of the cheap access to money (low rates). The second reason, as equally important, is the lack of supply on the markets.

Low interest rates and lack of supply will keep this type of market going. There will not be a change in the real estate market activity until there is a change in the monetary policy.

If interest rates remain low (which I believe they will throughout 2012), the housing market will continue being robust, and prices will continue increasing, or will plateau.

They will certainly not correct.