Is it Possible That Canadian Real Estate Prices Have Hit Their Peak?

Realosophy Realty's John Pasalis and Oakwyn Realty's Steve Saretsky join Jessy Bains from Yahoo Finance to discuss at whether the real estate market can get any hotter or if the peak has been hit. 

 

Some highlights from their conversation on June 9th include: 

  • The market is still hot but is starting to slow down

New listings and sales are trending downwards in the GTA and Vancouver housing markets despite the market usually picking up at this time of year. Buyer fatigue, nice weather, Toronto's reopening, and a natural lull after a very hot market all plays a part in this slowdown. 

  • The new stress test that came into effect June 1st has little impact on buyer psychology

Instead, things like the improving weather, buyer fatigue, the provinces opening back up, and the natural slowdown in the summer months is having a bigger psychological impact than new policies or changes. Those buyers will likely just come back into the market in the fall.  

  • We need to see inventory levels up at five or six months to experience lower home prices; something we're not likely to see any time soon
Even if the market cools further and we end up with a couple months of inventory, that would still result in a stable market not falling prices. It will take months and months of inventory to get to a place where we would see very low home prices.  
  • The government is deliberately raising home prices
The municipalities have told the Canadian government time and time again how tight the housing market is and how little supply is available.  Despite this knowledge they made the decision to accelerate and increase immigration leading to a deliberate and substantial rise in home prices. 

 

Click on the video above to watch the full interview.

John Pasalis is President of Realosophy Realty, a Toronto real estate brokerage which uses data analysis to advise residential real estate buyers, sellers and investors.

A specialist in real estate data analysis, John’s research focuses on unlocking micro trends in the Greater Toronto Area real estate market. His research has been utilized by the Bank of Canada, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Follow John on Twitter @johnpasalis

Email John

 
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