We are back at it again with a review of the Market Watch from December 2023.
This is a recap of the market number in December as well as the year of 2023. Overall we saw a much slower year with both the number of sales as well as average price dipping below the numbers we saw in 2022. The number of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home sales in 2023 came in at less than 70,000 due to affordability issues brought about by high mortgage rates.
“High borrowing costs coupled with unrealistic federal mortgage qualification standards resulted in an unaffordable home ownership market for many households in 2023. With that said, relief seems to be on the horizon. Borrowing costs are expected to trend lower in 2024. Lower mortgage rates coupled with a relatively resilient economy should see a rebound in home sales this year,” said new Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Jennifer Pearce.
All in all we did see majority of the buyers that were in the Market having more time to look. More variety to choose from and also a negotiating power we hadn’t seen in many years.
In December we saw some interesting activity. Although it tends to be a traditionally slower month, we did see more activity than in 2022. The average price and the number of sales activity were slightly up when compared to December 2022.
With all sorts of predictions on wether or not the bank of Canada will hold its overnight rate coupled with the fact that we continuously see high immigration numbers, 2024 will be an interesting year. Stay tuned!
“High borrowing costs coupled with unrealistic federal mortgage qualification standards resulted in an unaffordable home ownership market for many households in 2023. With that said, relief seems to be on the horizon. Borrowing costs are expected to trend lower in 2024. Lower mortgage rates coupled with a relatively resilient economy should see a rebound in home sales this year,” said new Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Jennifer Pearce.
“Buyers who were active in the market benefitted from more choice throughout 2023. This allowed many of these buyers to negotiate lower selling prices, alleviating some of the impact of higher borrowing costs. Assuming borrowing costs trend lower this year, look for tighter market conditions to prompt renewed price growth in the months ahead,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
“Record immigration into the GTA in the coming years will require a corresponding increase in the number of homes available to rent or purchase. People need to have comfort in knowing that they can plan their lives and future with the certainty that they will have the stability of an affordable place to live,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.
If you have any questions or to better understand what is happening in your neighbourhood, please contact us.