Recapping the year to date, January and February started out hot. March was a tale of two halves, with the first half continuing hot, and then the brakes coming on in the second half after all three levels of government started implementing emergency measures to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Then April was one long month of riding the brakes. GTA-wide transactions went from about 9,000 last year to just under 3,000 this year - the lowest April in the last 25 years (as far back as TRREB... [read more]

The split in how freehold and condo markets are acting that I pointed out last month carried on into September. The normally sleepier months of July and August were making up for a lost spring, posting higher than normal sales due to "pent-up demand." Well September did the same with 416 sales transactions up 19% over the same month last year. If that sounds high, 905 sales were up 57% YoY, as lowrise housing is de riguer.  You'll find the full set of market... [read more]

A real split is developing in the freehold versus condo markets. We've seen them act differently before (which is why I run separate charts), but it's getting pretty extreme now. This year has been such a wild ride. In February things were hot. March was a tale of two halves, with the onset of COVID-19 mesures. Then April was one long month of riding the brakes, followed by the start of recovering in May and June as listings rose (as did sales). And then the... [read more]

Every month recently has been a lot different than the prior. In February things were hot. March was a tale of two halves, with the first half continuing hot, and then the brakes coming on in the second half after all three levels of government started implementing COVID-19 measures. Then April was one long month of riding the brakes, with 2,975 GTA sales representing the lowest April in the last 25 years (as far back as TRREB supplies monthly numbers for). May was the start... [read more]

With 2019 almost upon us, I thought I'd share my thoughts on what I think the Toronto real estate market will look like next year. I've already shared some thoughts in this BNN Bloomberg article, but obviously I can go deeper here. Just as I concluded in my "What's in store for 2018?" (which I think played out pretty accurately), the year starts out with more headwinds than tailwinds. I'll use a similar format to last year, where I break down the headwinds and... [read more]