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Toronto real estate
Steve Saretsky -

Toronto Real Estate Following In The Same Footsteps as Vancouver I often get asked what are my predictions or thoughts on the Toronto Real Estate market. While I can’t comment from a statistical or feet on the ground perspective what I can tell you is all financial markets tend to function the same regardless of the location. There’s no such thing as “it’s different here.” With Toronto real estate prices soaring 22% last year, and expected to increase by 25% or more this year, the housing plague has gripped Toronto residents. Economists and other market experts are now sounding the alarm bells. “Overall, while the investment boom in housing supported the economy through the oil shock, the further deterioration in housing affordability and greater housing imbalances are worrisome, symptomatic of an economic crisis in the making caused by investor speculation and excessive financial leverage.” – David Madani, Capital Economics  “Let’s drop the pretense, The Toronto housing market — and the many cities surrounding it are in a housing bubble. Housing starts in Toronto and Vancouver have been chugging along at almost 70,000 units per year recently, an all-time high, while overall Canadian starts are above demographic demand at 200,000 units

Steve Saretsky -

Activity remains sluggish in Vancouver Real Estate Market Activity in the Vancouver real estate market remains quite sluggish through the first half of February. This report follows the two previous January reports (January 2017 Detached Market Report and January 2017 condo/townhouse Market Report). So what do I mean by sluggish? Well sales are down, way down from last year. New listings are also quite scarce. Let’s take a look. REBGV Detached Detached sales are following the exact same trend as the past six months or so. Detached sales through the first 15 days of February are down 52% year over year. There have been a total of 385 detached sales across Greater Vancouver which is 28% below the 10 year average.   There have been 690 new listings added so far in February. This puts the current sales/actives ratio at a paltry 9%, which of course means it’s still considered a buyers market. REBGV Townhouse Townhouse sales remain relatively stable, once again following a similar trend we have seen over the past few months. Through the first 15 days of February sales are down 30% year over year, and are also 8% below the 10 year average. Through 15 days

Steve Saretsky -

Population Growth, Limited Supply, and a Strong Economy? As of today Greater Vancouver real estate prices have soared by 39% since January 2015. We’ve been told the astronomical price growth has been a direct result of population growth, limited supply and a strong economy. New findings show otherwise. Population Growth Population growth in Vancouver has been average at best. Metro Vancouver ranked 11th of all Canadian cities for population growth from 2011-2016. The population grew by 6.5% down significantly from the 9.3% growth from 2006-2011. Meanwhile, as prices continue to surge, research from U-Haul suggests people are leaving Vancouver. Each year, U-Haul studies how many of its trucks leave various communities on one-way trips versus how many trips are arriving. According to the U-Haul data, Vancouver is a “net-loss city,” with 52.9 per cent of one-way U-Haul trucks leaving the city versus 47.1 per cent arriving. “While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well (communities) are attracting and maintaining residents.” Supply As i’ve talked about before, supply tends to be a symptom of the underlying issue and a shortage tends be more a result of unsustainable levels of demand.

Steve Saretsky -

Sales Plummet But Inventory Still at Historic Lows Quite the contrary to the sinking detached market (January 2017 detached market report) condos and townhouses remain quite stable. Despite a significant drop in sales, inventory remains at historically low levels preventing prices from moving much. The divergence from the detached market is really quite remarkable. Sales [table id=30 /] Condo sales across Greater Vancouver slumped year over year. For January sales fell year over year by 14% in Vancouver East, 30% in Vancouver West, 18% in Richmond, 39% in Burnaby, and 24% in REBGV. Despite sales falling year over year, they remain above the 10 year average. REBGV condo sales were 11% above the 10 year average for January. Except for Vancouver West which was 11% below the 10 year average. New Listings Vancouver East- 155 Vancouver West- 493 Richmond- 209 Burnaby- 206 REBGV- 1640 New listings remain at historic lows across the board. New condo listings in REBGV were 22% below the 10 year average for January. The lack of new listings is keeping total inventory at all time lows. Total condo inventory in REBGV fell 36% year over year. Here’s where we currently stand. Sales/Actives Ratio Vancouver East- 42%

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The Canadian Economy

Steve Saretsky -

Toronto Real Estate Following In The Same Footsteps as Vancouver I often get asked what are my predictions or thoughts on the Toronto Real Estate market. While I can’t comment from a statistical or feet on the ground perspective what I can tell you is all financial markets tend to...

Steve Saretsky -

Activity remains sluggish in Vancouver Real Estate Market Activity in the Vancouver real estate market remains quite sluggish through the first half of February. This report follows the two previous January reports (January 2017 Detached Market Report and January 2017 condo/townhouse Market Report). So what do I mean by sluggish?...

Steve Saretsky -

Population Growth, Limited Supply, and a Strong Economy? As of today Greater Vancouver real estate prices have soared by 39% since January 2015. We’ve been told the astronomical price growth has been a direct result of population growth, limited supply and a strong economy. New findings show otherwise. Population Growth...

Steve Saretsky -

Sales Plummet But Inventory Still at Historic Lows Quite the contrary to the sinking detached market (January 2017 detached market report) condos and townhouses remain quite stable. Despite a significant drop in sales, inventory remains at historically low levels preventing prices from moving much. The divergence from the detached market...

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The Saretsky Report. December 2022