Many condo owners purchase with the intent of climbing aboard the "property ladder." The intention isn't usually to buy a condo as a "forever home" but rather to move up to a house once they have accumulated some equity. However, freehold (non-condominium houses) properties have been appreciating at a faster pace than condos over the years and with higher price to begin with, the price gap between the two ownership types has grown over the years. When GTA freehold... [read more]

[Note: the analysis from this blog post was referenced in a Globe & Mail article in March of 2018.] The calendar just turned from February to March. That means February real estate statistics will be released next week. And that means we're going to be seeing harsh year-over-year (YoY) price comparisons for the next few months. If you want a fun drinking game, have a shot every time you hear or read the media use any variation on the word "plunge" related to... [read more]

Are you curious how your house or condo has appreciated over time compared to the average in the city? Or how those average price increases look versus the stock market? Well then you came to the right place. I've been compiling this after the June and December market statistics are released. Here's where you can find the posts for Q2 2017, Q4 2016 and Q2 2016. I will show some of the charts in this blog post, but for the full picture, the... [read more]

Since 2018 is just around the corner now, I've been asked a couple of times what I think the Toronto real estate market will look like next year. In short, the year starts out with more headwinds than tailwinds. Known Headwinds <<< First, in case "headwinds" is too jargon-y, a headwind is something that slows the momentum of something (think of an airplane). I've broken these down into known, likely, and potential.  1) OSFI B-20:... [read more]

What is this February Bump? When compiling my monthly charts highlighting trends in the Toronto real estate market, I always notice the climb from January to February in the last 6 years, which was particularly steep in 2016: From December 2015 to December 2016, the average house price went up by $209K. Nearly 3/4 of that ($152K) happened in that steep January to February climb I just noted. Here is a look at the last 6 years, which correspond to the chart above. You can see... [read more]