The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region Resale Real Estate Report - May 2017
The Real Estate Market is Affordabalizing. I know that’s not a word but that’s what we’re calling it. With all the talk about the real estate market recently, there is no doubt that things have and are changing ever since the Ontario Government put forth its Fair Housing Plan. Now that we’ve been able to collect a full month of data, since the plan was put forth in the middle of April, let’s go ahead and reflect on what happened in the resale real estate market in May across the GTA and into Hamilton. We’ve compiled a short yet robust 3-page report that goes over how local home sales and values have been impacted in different cities and communities across the region in May.
So what happened in May? Residential resale prices were up 15% from last year across the GTA. Hamilton & Burlington areas saw a 24% increase. All positive stats, but yet everyone is talking about the market cooling, and it sure is.
GTA & Hamilton Homes Sales Stats – May 2017
The start of 2017 was nuts. In the GTA we saw the average price of a home jump by more than $100,000(14%) in one month, from January to February.
Let’s put that in perspective. In 2016 (the most epic year for GTA resale real estate) we saw the average home price increase by 16% over the course of 12 months. In 2015, that average was 9.3%, In 2014 it was 8% and in 2013 it was 5%. So in the month of February 2017, we saw prices increase more than the average annual rate from the last 4 years, which have been record-breaking years. It didn’t stop there. In March, the average home price in the GTA was up 5% from February (equivalent to the average annual increase of prices in 2013). The market would have been unsustainable at this rate so the government introduced the Fair Housing Plan and GTA home prices came to a halt with only a mere 0.3% increase in April from the previous month. With so much buzz around government plans to hinder the market and a slow spring start, homeowners have finally decided to cash out on equity gains from recent months and years. Meanwhile, buyers have lost a bit of confidence in the market. This has caused a huge jump in listings, a dip in sales and many lonely offer dates for listing agents. In May, we finally came back to reality.
GTA Sales & Average Price by Home Type - May 2017
If we look closer, our analysis shows that areas and home types that have been the most affordable in the past remain in high demand. 905 Condos, which have been a traditionally economical home product saw prices jump 29% from last year. Only down 0.2% from April while the average prices of all homes in the GTA was down by 6% more. In the Hamilton-Burlington regions, where prices have been relatively reasonable compared to the GTA, saw prices actually increase in May from April by 1.6% on average. Communities like Waterdown and Grimsby saw double digit gains in the number of sales and prices.
Hamilton & Burlington Sales & Average Price by Home Type - May 2017
Hamilton & Burlington Prices & Sales by Community - May 2017
On the other side of the spectrum, cities where we’ve seen prices soaring in previous months like Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket all saw double-digit drops in average price and number of sales in May from the previous month.
GTA Prices & Sales by Community - May 2017
Basically, things are balancing out and homes are becoming slightly more affordable. Like the title reads, the market is #affordabilizing. Which means buyers can skip the auction and get their home inspected before they buy. Homeowners on the other hand, should be glad that the market dodged an even bigger bullet (via The Ontario Fair Housing Plan) considering how quickly things were moving earlier in the year. Compared to the average price of a home in all of 2016, we’re still up by 18.36% in May of 2017. Almost 20% in just a short 5 months is not bad. It’ll be interesting to see where we go from here, but for now, the market is not crashing and it’s not on fire so I think we just need to chill on all the real estate hype. If you are in the market as a buyer or a seller, just be reasonable and you’ll get the deal done. You have to dig deep on the data to reveal the full story. We’re just scratching the surface here. Download the full report to see real estate stats for various cities and communities throughout the GTA and Hamilton.