JUNE - Record Braking Month in Toronto Real Estate

The first person who says “I told you so” deserves public scorn! I don’t believe anyone could have imagined that the Toronto Real Estate market would rebound with such flourish, and with such haste. June sales were phenomenal - average prices in the 416 are back to near-record highs at $441,000. Sales volume is also near all-time records with almost 11,000 properties changing hands in the month. This represents the best June on record, and frankly one of the strongest months we’ve seen in years.

This is not insignificant. At all. One a more human scale, what it means is that buyers are having to pay more - substantially more - than even a few months ago. It also means that the competition for housing has grown substantially, because the market simply isn’t flooded with “inventory”. In fact, quite the opposite is true. There’s a substantial and ongoing dearth of unique urban homes listed, which is frustrating and aggravating for today’s buyer. There were 30 percent fewer listings in June 2009 than a year previous. Frustrated buyers, you bet.

What this means for the market in general is pretty straightforward: if you have a great property that you have been looking to sell, now is a superb time. If you are looking to enter the market or “trade up”, be prepared to pay a premium over the types of deals that we saw in the winter. I’ll say it - this is now a seller’s market. Plain and simple.

The Toronto Sun profiles Paul Johnston in this recent article. Both properties at 91 Claremont have now been sold.