February 2024 Markets Stats are IN

The market stats for the month of February appear to be showing slight increases year over year, for the City of Toronto in number of sales and average selling price. This is reflected across different areas of the City. There are some variations in the average selling price across parts of the city & GTA, however the number of sales and ‘New For Sale’ are showing increases, year over year.

It is more important than ever to team up with a Realtor who knows what is happening and has the experience to guide you through to your best opportunities! When trying to understand the Toronto real estate market, know that at LTHOME you have a Collective of Experience, Knowledge and Skill to help you successfully navigate the market and your next journey in buying or selling a home.

Our team is smart about how we approach each situation and home, both from the buying and the selling side. Making sure that we are strategic and using every tool to your advantage, from fine tuned negotiation skills, neighbourhood knowledge, a team of professionals supporting us and even connections with our colleagues across the city.

Want to see more about specific area’s of the GTA CLICK HERE

There is no doubt that Real Estate in Toronto is pricey. Unaffordability of housing in the city is often the topic of heated conversation around the dinner table. Although the desire to be a homeowner is often high on the list of many Ontarians, there are so many who have resigned themselves to renting. Join Lainey Bonsell as she discusses some of the products available to help you save for a First Time Home purchase. Here at LTHome, we love talking about this stuff and helping our clients find ways in their own specific situations to make things easier. We would welcome the opportunity to have a chat and see if we can help you on the path to homeownership!

January 2024 Markets Stats are IN

And you might be surprised to see these numbers...

This first month of 2024 is the perfect peek into the amount of market activity that’s starting to come out of the woodwork. With prices showing minimal (single digits) drops across most communities, and number of sales and number properties listed climbing by nearly 33% on average across the city of Toronto last month vs February 2023.
After months of cautious optimism and careful consideration, the warm winter temps and market conditions have brought motivated buyers back out to the field!

Toronto Condos saw a near 65% increase in # of sales vs. Jan 2023, Kudos to those first time buyers making the most of these buyer-friendly conditions and curbing those climbing rental rates.

Looking for a personalized market overview of your neighbourhood? Or keen to find out what opportunities are right outside your door? Go to our BLOG - link in bio - to see neighbourhood specific stats.

Or, drop us a line, whether you’re in the dreamboard phase or seriously considering your next move, now is a very good time to talk strategy!

Want to see more about specific area’s of the GTA CLICK HERE

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Interest Rates, Inflation and Real Estate, which currently affects almost everyone. We all know that interest rates and inflation have been a huge topic in the media and around the kitchen table for the last several months. And well, Real Estate in Toronto is always a fun topic of conversation! With the most recent Bank of Canada rate hike on July 12th, and the news that there is possibly more to come, it’s hard not to take notice. There are many opinions, predictions and general thoughts flying around out there and I thought this would be a good time to sit down and pull from some of our trusted sources along with what I’m seeing day-to-day in the market to give you a little professional insight.

THANK YOU to everyone who SHOPPED, DONATED & SUPPORTED

the LTHome Garage Sale for Shelter we raised an incredible $3,142!!

On May 6th our Royal LePage Estate Realty family hosted 15 Garage Sales and we are thrilled to announce that collectively we raised a total of

$20,000!!!

The proceeds from Garage Sales will go directly to The Red Door Shelter, Nellie's Shelter and The Scarborough Women’s Shelter, through the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.

What we love about this organization is that Royal LePage pays all the administration cost for this charity so 100% of the money raised goes directly to the shelters and people that need it most.

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to funding women’s shelters and violence prevention programs.

Every dollar raised goes directly to helping the more than 50,000 women and children who are served each year, by the shelters and support programs we fund. Since 1998, the Shelter Foundation has raised $41 million to-date and currently supports 200 local women’s shelters and national partners.

Well, it’s been a year! For the first time in a long time our first response when it comes to Toronto Real Estate is not “it’s bonkers out there!” 

For the most part we saw a general slowing of the market, which is not a bad thing. The rate in which prices were increasing and more so, the means by which some people felt compelled to go about buying a new home was becoming unsustainable and in some cases pretty risky. 

We walked into 2023 with yet another rate hike of 25 basis points which proved to have the desired effect of cooling the housing market for the beginning of the spring. A rate hold in March and April had buyers jumping back in, resulting in a return to bidding wars and prices trending upwards. This put pressure on inflation and was cause for the Bank of Canada to raise rates twice more in June and July. These rate increases have proven to force many of us to watch our pennies a little closer. 

The final 3 rate announcements of the year saw the BOC holding the prime rate at 5.25% These latest holds are positive news, it’s true we are all feeling the pinch, but it hasn’t had the same effect on the market as the previous holds had. There was certainly some hesitancy from both buyers and sellers toward the end of 2023, the question is will this climate end in pent up demand or continued trepidation?

There is much speculation as we ease into 2024. Many of these predictions depend on how the economy fairs going forward and the direct impact of inflation and interest rates. 

We still haven't found that crystal ball but we do believe amid challenges, our city continues to showcase its enduring appeal, with a dynamic interplay of supply and demand. 

Regardless of which direction we go, here at LTHome we understand that personal circumstances play the biggest role in our clients' needs or desire to move. Trust that we have the time, experience and knowledge to help you through a successful Real Estate journey regardless of the outside noise. 

We are always happy to sit down and strategise the best options with you, regardless of if that means we take the “wait and see” approach, the “hustle now” approach, or something comfortably in between.

At long last- SPRING has sprung! And while the sun is shining and the birds are chirping; you might be taking in the aftermath of great Canadian hibernation. There’s no doubt that throughout the cold winter months we tend to accumulate stuff; whether you’re ‘duvet shopping’, strolling a toasty mall or still grappling with your holiday loot. It’s been a long winter of stuffing things into the dark corners of closets, but now it’s time to start digging for your beloved pair of sandals, making room for your floppy beach hat and finding a resting place for that tired parka!

Whether you’re on team ‘Spring Clean Serenity’ or team ‘Do We Have To?’ there is SO much to be gained by a good old fashioned SPRING CLEAN, it’s Science!

According to researchers, clutter causes more than just a mess, it actually contributes to a significant amount of STRESS. A whopping 47% of North Americans report they are preoccupied by their house not being in order. Studies have shown that clutter causes your cortisol levels to spike, and it even results in decreased productivity at the office; the stress and anxiety of having a messy house is even said to stick with you throughout your time away from home. But the good news is it takes just a little bit of elbow grease and determination to get your nest back in order, and once you reach some level of organization, research suggests you're much less likely to fall back into bad habits. Once it exists, your brain is actually programmed to maintain the cleanliness. Game Changer!

If this isn’t quite enough to sway your motivation- how about considering the IMPACT your parted possessions could have on the lives of Women and Children in your community!

Thanks to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, you can watch your new found home organization translate into real dollars and make a real difference in supporting shelters that house over 50,000 individuals in need of refuge.

So while you’re taking inventory of your crammed-full cupboards, and piled-up places please consider putting aside your gently used items to donate to the Garage Sale for Shelter. Donations are typically accepted the first week of May and are appreciated more than you know!

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to funding women’s shelters and violence prevention programs. Since 1998, the Shelter Foundation has raised more than $38 million and currently supports 200 local women’s shelters and national partners. In addition to this annual nation-wide fundraising event, Royal LePage agents proudly donate a portion of their commissions, volunteer their time and provide in-kind goods towards making a difference through the Shelter Foundation.

After a start like no other in 2022, the second half of the year was a little less appetizing - or was it? It all depends on how you look at it, which side of the fence you’re on or if you’re just sitting on that fence waiting to see what everyone else is going to do (you’re not alone!) 

​For many, many years there have been escalating complaints about Toronto’s Real Estate market. It’s fast pace and often seemingly unfair antics required just to get your foot in the door - and that foot generally cost you an arm and a leg! 

​We’ve started to see a decline in prices while interest rates and the cost of living rise across the board. Let’s not negate the fact that this has put many in a difficult position but the reality is, and always has been, for the most part Real Estate is a long game. 

There was a very short period of time where the short game was profitable, but that, along with early 2022 prices and uncharacteristically low interest rates were not sustainable.  Yes, prices have come down and interest rates have gone up. 

So where does that leave us for 2023? 

The LTHome Collective has taken out their crystal ball and here’s what we see; Currently, this is a great time to look at your options for a move if that’s one of your 2023 goals. When you are buying and selling in the same market it actually makes better financial sense to do that in a declining market rather than an inclining one. Reach out, we’re happy to explain how!

That said, based on looking at the data, dissecting the media reports and our feet on the ground, our guess is that this declining market is going to be short-lived in Toronto. It’s possible the forecasted recession becomes a looming reality and this opinion shifts but in the first couple weeks of January we are already starting to see multiple offers (bidding wars) and “Sold over asking” becoming common again.

It comes down to simple supply and demand (still!) Many would-be sellers are holding tight because they feel they’ve “lost value” with declining prices.

This might be true in the short term but in most cases if those sellers bought in 2021 or earlier, they haven’t lost anything. This lack of inventory for the buyers means the buyers have to fight for what is on the market. Many buyers took to the sidelines when prices began to decline waiting for “the bottom” (we’d love for them to let us know when that bottom happens because we fear it's here!)

However, all the buyers that were pushing prices up in early 2022 did not all buy and settle into a new home. As they slowly re-enter the market along with the return of immigration that was somewhat on hold through the pandemic, the fact that Toronto is a world-class city and appealing to many, chances are, the market will be relatively stable going forward if it doesn’t just take off again.

For us here at LTHome, we optimistically welcome a stable market but with the experience, knowledge and expertise along with a great group of professionals we can rely on, our Collective is confident in helping our clients navigate any market, even one in the throes of constant change! It’s such a better way to do business when everyone gets to walk away from the table feeling good about their Real Estate experience and that’s always what we strive for.

If you’d like to discuss the market and dig into the stats for your specific property or area, we’re always excited for an opportunity to connect with you!