Toronto’s housing market remains one of Canada’s most expensive—even in a climate of rising interest rates, mortgage-rule changes, and other government policy interventions that have dragged sales activity lower of late.
Not all neighbourhoods, however, have been affected equally by these changes. A new report from Zoocasa suggests as much. Comparing annual changes to the Toronto Real Estate Board’s sales-to-new listings ratios (that’s sales divided by listings over a given period of time) in neighbourhoods throughout the city, the web-based real estate portal has mapped out which hyper-local markets have shifted into buyer’s market over the past year.
“When we say that something has become a buyer’s market… that doesn’t necessarily mean it has become materially more affordable for buyers,” notes Penelope Graham, Zoocasa’s managing editor, in an interview with Harvey Kalles Real Estate. “It means the fundamentals have shifted… It’s all coming down to how competitive that market will be as a result.”
A buyer’s market is generally considered to be one in which the sales-to-new-listings ratio is less than 40 per cent. In terms of houses, including both semi-detached and detached homes, four neighbourhoods went from being seller’s markets to buyer’s over the 12-month period ending this January: Willowdale, Leaside/Thorncliffe, Centennial Scarborough/West Hill, and Eglinton West/Rockcliffe-Smythe. Five markets slipped into buyer’s-market territory from balanced market conditions over the same period: Bedford Park/Lawrence Park South, Mount Pleasant East, Banbury-Don Mills/Victoria Village, Willowdale East, and The Beaches/Woodbine Corridor.
The condo market remains more competitive, a byproduct of affordability challenges facing buyers looking to break into the market. “It’s sort of the last bastion of affordability,” Graham says of condos. For some buyers, it is the only type of housing within their price range. This has created sustained demand for condos. Only L’Amoreaux, Tam O’Shanter-Sullivan slipped from a buyer’s market to one favouring sellers in the past year in the condo segment. Oakwood-Vaughan/Forest Hill South was the lone market to change from a balanced to a buyer’s market over the same period. All the rest showed signs favouring sellers.
Photo Credit: Flickr user bettie_xo