When considering market activity, one of the things I’ve been seeing from a macro point of view is that it’s not just buyers that have been taking a pause. Often, we speak of buyers sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen with prices. But what’s happening, simultaneously, is that sellers have also chosen to wait, thinking if they don’t need to sell right now, in time, prices may rebound.
As a result, there has not been a notable influx of listings coming to market, and patient buyers have not been rewarded with the options that you might expect them to have. Rather, in some cases, we have both parties waiting, resulting in all this sideline activity on both ends of the field.
How long this situation will last is unknown, but when I think about the Toronto real estate market, the word resilience always comes to mind. Looking at some of the challenges our industry has faced (the doubling of the land transfer tax, the HST on new home sales, the mortgage stress test, and the non-resident speculation tax), the real estate market has always responded with a vengeance.
We don’t know what the future holds, but we may likely look back at this current market and see it as just another blip. I wish I could predict but one thing I can say is that over the past three decades, there have been numerous times where buyers and sellers have sat on the sidelines. Each time, the market has bounced back.
I read a recent statistic predicting a Canadian population of 57.8 million by 2068. We’re now tracking 423,000 new Canadians a year, and it could be substantially more. So, we’ve got a lot of people coming to Canada, and we’re growing at a faster rate than the US in terms of population. We’ve also got tons of money in the market waiting for a home, literally and figuratively, and you’ve got a stock market that’s been extremely volatile.
With that in mind, I’m hoping that as we settle into September, buyers and sellers will begin to settle into our new normal. No, it will not be a return to 2021, which was unsustainable, and we all need to temper those kinds of expectations. But I do think we’re going to see good activity with people starting to get off the sidelines. And you know what happens when the first person enters the market…it’s the first, then the second, and then it comes in droves. It’s just a matter of time.
If you would like further clarity about the current real estate market, please feel free to call Michael Kalles at: 416 723-2383. I will answer any of your questions, and can connect you with a member of our sales team that specializes in your area of interest. Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage, has been in business since 1957, and we bring a wealth of experience to fluctuating markets.
