Toronto Real Estate Market Update May 2020
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) is a committee that serves the over 50,000 realtors of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), assisting them in understanding where the market was, where it is and where it’s projected to head. Their information is pulled from their Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which collects all the data of sold property and property up for sale. TRREB has just released their data for figures in May of 2020, and the industry hasn’t been affected to the degree the general population believed it would. As expected the sales figures are lower than they were at the beginning of the year, but real estate still continues to yield impressive results. The Toronto market’s values continue to benefit investors, demonstrated by the continued rise in values even during the wake of COVID-19.
Sales noticeably declined for the month of May, which everyone had predicted. In the Greater Toronto area we reached a total 4,606 for the month, when last year was an impressive 9,950. This was a 53.7% decrease compared to May of 2019. Though a significant drop in sales than we are accustomed to, it was assumed to have more of an impact given the public conscience and the sales of the month before. In April of this year we saw a significant decrease in sales due to the uncertainty of what the pandemic would entail. Sales that month only hit 2,975, with the increase in consumer confidence the following month we witnessed a strong increase in sales to the degree of 55.3%.
New listings for May were only at 9,104, compared to 19,394 from last year. In the month of April we only saw 6,174 in new listings. The shock of COVID-19 is starting to wear off and people are beginning to invest in a more secure asset if they are able to comfortably afford it. The initial shock of the pandemic also slowed down people’s willingness to buy, this is evident in the average number of days a property is on the market. The general days on market (DOM) was 32 in the GTA, while last May’s was 27.
The average price of property has increased 3.0% compared to the same time last year, from $838,248 to $863,599. Detached homes uncharacteristically went down 0.9% from $1,042,218 to $1,033,341. Semi-detached homes grew 4.8% from $827,250 to $867,717. Townhouses improved 3.1% from $665,967 to $686,854. Condo apartments increased by 6.0% from $598,876 to $625,445. Typically the increases in value are more dramatic, but this was to be expected.
It’s rather evident that people are concerned about the state of the economy and real estate market, understandably so. As everyone starts to readjust, this industry begins to slowly return to where it was continuing to trend. The financial stability and concern of the general populace has a definite impact on financial sales, but not on values. Regardless of whether it tracks up or down, the numbers and history prove that values will always inevitably go up.
