Doesn’t April 2017 feel like a LONG time ago now? 

There’s a new provincial government in power and, let’s just say, they have their plate full. The last thing on their mind is the real estate market – especially in the GTA.

Their predecessors had unwittingly tampered with the natural forces of the market much to the chagrin of those familiar with what governmental measures can do to a blossoming market. The negative reaction and speculation was swift, but the lasting and permanent changes could not be stopped and may have inadvertently been spurred on by the measures that were put in place in the Spring of 2017 – namely, rent control.

As some had guessed, myself included, it would take a significant amount of time for the market to rebound. However, it did and perhaps faster than most expected.

NEARING BREAK-EVEN

The summer months saw tight supply and prices nearly reached 2017 levels on a year over year basis. August was much slower than July and saw prices fall month over month, but that’s to be expected for the slowest real estate month of the year. Many of my clients heeded my advice and took advantage of the buyer’s market in the summer because we all know what happens after the long weekend…

FALL OUTLOOK

With the kids back to school, September always acts as a New Year 1.0. It’s when buyers and sellers get back to work and back to reality. With that generally comes the September/Fall bounceback. And, it looks as though we’re in for some increases in the freehold sector. By how much? It’s hard to say, but look for a marked improvement from the summer that should see prices get back officially to Fall 2017 numbers and likely slightly beyond.

In the condo market, it’s still a bit of an unknown, but I imagine we won’t quite be seeing double digit increases. I expect things to stabilize a bit more there as the year closes. That’s been a wild ride and the main beneficiary of the freehold market stabilizing over the past year.

What we won’t be seeing is a marked decline in prices. Unfortunately, those days are now in our rearview mirror. However, we’re in a much better place overall for buyers in the sense that they can definitely take more time and do their due diligence. While multiple offers will continue to be a thing for the most desirable properties, buyers won’t have to fight through ten of them before finding a home.

WHAT’S TO COME NEXT YEAR?

I’ll leave that for my special yearly blogpost after we see what events unfold this fall. The federal government has had a penchant for announcing big measures in October, but I think they’re also preoccupied with a few more things at the moment.

I see things being relatively lowkey this Fall with steady, nominal gains. So, get out there and get back to life. If you’ve been putting off a move waiting for the other shoe to drop, I don’t think that’s happening any time soon.

Till next time – happy hunting!