I speak regularly with real estate professionals from within our company and across the country. Certainly, we are seeing that GTA is very ‘hyper local.’ A listing in one pocket may yield dozens of showings and multiple offers, while others may behave in a slower fashion. But from a macro level, more than two years into a global pandemic, I continue to marvel at the resilience of real estate.

Despite measures being put into place that apply pressure on demand, interest in home ownership remains strong. Certainly, rising interest rates, an increase to the Non-Resident Speculation Tax to 20%, and policies like the cooling period, as was recently announced in British Columbia, will take some buyers out of the market. But it only takes one purchaser to make a sale and to set the market.

Looking at the numbers that came out today, it was the third busiest March on record. Prices continue to rise due to a lack of supply, and at month’s end, all seven of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Boards districts were posting average sales prices exceeding $1,000,000: Halton ($1,515,730), Peel ($1,269,242), Toronto ($1,218,546), York ($1,515,897), Durham ($1,148,685), Dufferin County ($1,016,006), and Simcoe County ($1,183,775). The highest average days on market was 10, and that was in the City of Toronto.

With that in mind, I think it’s never been more important than now to work with a trusted real estate advisor. Realtors have access to properties not exposed to the general public, as well as relationships with colleagues across the industry, and the necessary knowledge and experience to get the job done.

Yes, technology has made information more widely available, but the recent failings of many new North American models suggest that our traditional models continue to work best. When it comes to their greatest investment, buyers and sellers prefer to work with someone they trust.