John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News
The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 8,107 sales in April 2009, down 7% from the same month in the previous year. The average price for a home in April dropped to $385,641, down by just 3% from last year.
But the real story with Toronto’s real estate market right now has to do with the shortage of homes available for sale. There are not enough homes coming on the market to meet the demand from buyers. The following chart shows the volume of new listings for each month over the past four years (2009 in purple).
The reduced supply of homes coming on the market is leading to multiple offers on many properties as buyers compete for the few prime houses that go up for sale. The following chart shows the sales-to-inventory ratio up to April 2009. A high sales to inventory ratio means that the demand from buyers exceeds the supply of homes from sellers which drives up prices over time. This is also referred to as a Seller’s Market.
Note the sudden turnaround we experienced from a Buyer’s Market to a Seller’s Market in just a few months. But I don’t expect this spring rally to last for too long. I expect that we’ll see a greater balance between buyers and sellers as we head into the summer market.
Here are some key metrics for this month:
Read TREB's full press release here.
Download the Market Watch Report for April 2009.
John Pasalis is the Broker owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Email John
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