North Riverdale

Only three houses were sold in North Riverdale in February, and all three sold well over the list price. All of them sold on the day set up for offers, all within 6 days of listing.

Average selling price was $1,852,677, and the listings sold, on average, for 131% of the asking price.

The highest ratio of selling price to listing price was 144%, paid for a small 2-storey semi-detached home with 1 car parking space off a back lane on a lovely street just south of Withrow Park.

The most money paid over asking price was $611,031, for a 3-storey detached house east of the park.

Six houses were listed in February. One renovated semi-detached 3-storey house, listed close to the end of the month, did not sell on the offer date, and was immediately re-listed at $200,000 more and sold in 2 days getting 98% of the new listing price. Two more, listed on February 28th, sold on the offer day at the beginning of March.

South Riverdale

South Riverdale had 22 MLS sales and 24 new listing in February. Four of the new listings were terminated, and one of the terminated listings was immediately re-listed $300,000 higher and sold for 98% of the new price on the day the new listing was signed.

Average selling price was $1,166,477, and the listings sold, on average, for 124% of the asking price, ranging from 98% to 151%. Three listings sold below asking, one received full asking price, and remaining eighteen sold above asking.

The most money paid over the listing price, $502,000, was received for a 3-bedroom renovated detached house with one car parking on a quiet leafy street south of Gerrard.

Fourteen houses sold within first week on MLS, with the shortest time of one day (the house sold on the day listing was signed was actually exposed to the market for 7 days with the previous listing in place). The longest time necessary to market a listing was 29 days, for a 3-unit semi on a busy street. Three of the listings were sold with a bully offer.

January is typically a slow month in real estate sales, with kids at home during the first week, grown-ups recovering still from holiday activities, and uncooperative weather. Last year ended with a very low listing inventory and buyers eagerly awaiting new listings. We were hoping that, with a relatively mild and snow-free weather, more properties will be coming on the market early in 2017. But, so far, it didn't happen.

When compared to a year ago, number of listings and sales are a bit lower in both freehold and condominium ownership types, but not by a huge amount. Where we see a very big difference is in the proportion of listings sold above the asking price. In freehold houses 47% of listings were sold above asking this year, compared to 24% in 2016. But the largest difference is in condo sales - while only 6% were sold over asking in the first 17 days of 2016, this year 35% went over asking.

I compared the listing and sales information for the same 17 days in 2016 and 2017 in the City of Toronto (416 area).

Freehold properties

508 houses were listed in 2017, and of these new listings 115 sold firm, and 19 were sold conditionally. Additionally, 126 older listings were sold, to a total of 241 sales.

Condominium residences

including condo apartments, condo townhouses, co-op and co-ownership apartments

1058 new condo listings were added to the MLS system between January 1 and January 17, 2017. Out of these new listings 148 have been sold and 224 are sold conditionally. All of condo unit sales are conditional on the buyer's lawyer reviewing the buildings Status Certificate documents.

Additionally 247 of the existing listings from 2016 were sold, to a total of 395 sales.

After a record-setting 2015 the real estate industry anticipated a slow-down in sales. That never materialized, and 2016 was another record year in Toronto real estate. With 113,133 listings sold on MLS the sales were up by 11.8%. Average price of all property types increased by 17.3%, from $622,217 to $729,922.

Prospective buyers had a difficult time finding a home that would meet their needs, and getting their offers accepted. A shortage of available listings contributed to fierce competition among buyers, and caused bidding wars. In many instances listings would come up with an artificially discounted asking price, only to sell for hundred of thousands more.

On a yearly basis in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) an average price of a detached house was $974,698; semi-detached homes sold for an average of $673,738; townhouses (row houses) for $621,601; condo townhouses for $476,824; and condo apartments for $416,252. Detached houses constituted 47.5% of all sales, but the largest increase in the number of sales was in the high rise category.

In the City of Toronto average price for a detached home in December was $1,286,605, semi-detached houses sold at an average of $808,920, average townhouse price was $662,959, and an average price of a condo apartment was $466,592.

Year-over-year price change in December in the City of Toronto was 23.7% for a detached house, 8.4% for a semi, 23.5% for a townhouse, and 16.6% for a condo. Comparing to December 2015, 7.6% fewer detached houses, 11.5% fewer semis, and 19.6% fewer townhouses were sold in the City. The only category that reported an increase in sales on a year-over-year basis was condo apartments - 19.5% more units changed hands in December.

In the City of Toronto, comparing with 2015, 9.4 fewer properties of all types were listed for sale, the average sold to list price ratio was 103% (while in 2015 it was 101%), and listings took, on average, 19 days to sell, 4 days less than the previous year.

Out of 18,323 freehold listings sold in the City of Toronto in 2016, 1,550 were sold for full price, 10,946 sold over asking and only 5,821 sold below asking. The lowest, 61%, was paid for a 'to be built' house on a large lot located near Dufferin and highway 401. The asking price of $1,900,000 was obviously considerably more than the market would bear for this type of property. The highest, 192%, was paid for a backsplit on Donalda Club area, listed with an asking price of $1,088,000 and sold for $2,090,000 (or just over a million more).

24,495 condominium units (townhouses, apartments), co-ops and co-ownerships were sold in 2016 in the City of Toronto. 4,068 received full asking price, 5,166 were sold over asking, and 15,260 sold below asking. The lowest, 68%, was paid for a renovated condo apartment at Jane and Steeles. The highest, 155%, was paid for a condominium unit in Granite Place (Yonge and St. Clair).

In the video published on December 10th, 2016, Toronto Real Estate Board Senior Manager, Jason Mercer, discusses real estate sales in the Greater Toronto Area in November. By the end of November MLS sales were already higher than in all of 2015.

While lower than in the summer - in part due to the low listing inventories - November sales were still stronger than in the same period of 2015. 8,547 properties of all types were reported sold on the MLS system in November, 1,210 (or 16.5%) more than last year. The strongest increase in sales was for townhouses and condominium apartments.

Many prospective buyers were unsuccessful in their search for property and frustrated with a lack of listings. The competition for existing listings caused multiple bids on offer dates, and contributed to a substantial price increase. The MLS home price index composite benchmark rose by 20.3% over the level in November 2015. The average selling price was $776,684, an increase of 22.7%.

House price growth is a function of supply and demand. Recent policy changes focus on the demand portion of this equation, but more emphasis should be placed on alleviating the low supply, especially in the low rise market segment.

In the Globe Real Estate from last Friday (October 7, 2016) in Done Deals section a sale of a single family residence at 24 Ridley Blvd. is reported sold.

While the list price is reported correctly as $1,595,000, the report provides the sale price as $2,650,000. If you read the article, you would have also noticed that this house received two competing offers.

How is it possible, you may ask, that with only two competing offers the house sold for more than one million over the asking price? Yes, the four bedroom detached centre hall home is handsome, but neither the location, lot size, facade, nor its interior are truly outstanding and remarkable... And a corner lot, while providing good light for the interior, does not appeal to every buyer. The house is also situated extremely close to its neighbour to the south, which makes the original part of the interior feel more like a semi-detached structure.

As it turns out, the article was wrong. Sale price for this house was $1,650,000, only $55,000 over the list price. And, while receiving $55,000 more than the asking price is nothing to sneeze at, in today's real estate market in Toronto it is nothing out of the ordinary.

In the video published on September 7th, 2016, Toronto Real Estate Board Senior Manager, Jason Mercer, talks about the real estate sales in the Greater Toronto Area in August. With August over, and the kids back at school, we are at an unofficial end of summer.

August sales have been very strong, and substantially more properties have been reported sold than in August 2015. Part of the reason lies in the fact that there were two more working days in August this year, and majority of sales are reported on working days. Greater Toronto Area Realtors reported 9,813 sales in August, 1,870 more than last year.

Relatively strong regional economy, low borrowing costs and growth in average earnings are some of the factors behind the strong demand for house ownership. Very limited listings supply, with number of new listings down by 1.2%, resulted in strong competition between prospective buyers, and very strong price growth in all property types. In comparison with August 2015 the average price of all property types increased by 17.7%. The highest price increase - 23.3% - was again reported for detached homes in the 905 area. In the City of Toronto detached house prices increased by 18.3%.

In the video published on July 6th, 2016, Toronto Real Estate Board Senior Manager, Jason Mercer, discusses the real estate sales in the Greater Toronto Area in June. At the end of June the spring market came officially to a close. Looking at the sales in the first half of the year it isn't surprising that it was the best June on record in the Toronto MLS system. 7.5% more properties were reported sold in the Greater Toronto Area, comparing to June 2015. In the City of Toronto the increase in the number of sales was 4.6%. New listings were down by 3.5%, and listing inventory decreased by 31.4%.

Strong demand houses and condos continues, and, with a very limited supply, the competition between prospective buyers is fierce. Average price of all property types increased, in comparison with June 2015, by 16.8%. The highest price increase was reported for detached homes in the 905 area. In the City of Toronto detached house prices increased by 19.6%.

It is summer, and - looking back to spring real estate market - the hopes for more listings did not materialize, fierce competition between buyers resulted in bidding wars and many house and condo sales well over the asking price.

I was told by one of agents met at an open house that many of our colleagues set a listing price by $200,000 below the market value. They justify that saying that prospective buyers expect the listings to sell $200,000 or more over the asking price, so they will not consider looking at homes close to the upper limit of their budget. Seems like a vicious circle to me. One longs for the times when professionalism meant conducting a thorough research and setting a listing price that was within a reasonable range from the market value.

Last week of June saw a 46% decline in new freehold listings and a 17% decline in sales. That, of course, meant even more competition for a limited supply, and 70% of listings were sold at or above list price.

New condo listings declined as well, by 25.5%, with 19% fewer sales, and 35.5% sales at or above asking price.

Real Estate Activity in the Annex, Toronto, in 2015

61 properties were sold on MLS in the Annex in 2015. Among these were 6 attached homes (or freehold townhouses), 36 semi-detached, 14 detached houses, 1 duplex, 1 triplex, 1 fourplex, 1 multiplex, and 1 vacant lot.

Average sold price for these listings was $1,767,153, ranging from $700,000 for a 2-storey renovated 2-unit semi on a busy street to $5,300,000 for a 3-storey, 8-bedroom estate home on a 81 by 106 feet lot, currently housing four elegantly appointed units with over 5,000 square feet of living space, multiple fireplaces and lovely stained glass.

The homes sold, on average, for 102% of the list price. That percentage ranged from 84% to 134%. The highest amount of money paid over the listing price was $805,000. It took, on average, 23 days to sell a listing, and that time ranged from as short as 1 day, to as long as 137 days.

25 listings were sold above asking price, five sold for the asking price, and 31 below asking.

The table below shows all MLS sales of freehold houses in the Annex between the beginning of January and the end of December 2015. If you are interested in finding a home in this popular neighbourhood, please contact Marisha - she will be glad to assist you.

For more detailed information on property value in this neighbourhood, or for a complimentary market value analysis of your property, please give Marisha a call or e-mail her .

If you are interested in last year's sales in the Annex neighbourhood please visit Annex 2014 house values .

Toronto and GTA real estate sales in 2015

2015 was a record setting year in Toronto real estate. 101,299 listings were sold in the GTA - 9.2% more than in 2014. Average price of all property types increased by 9.8%, to $622,217.

As we saw in 2014, a shortage of listings, especially in the low rise category, caused competition between prospective buyers and bidding wars. In the City of Toronto 10,781 listings were sold above asking price - that's 27.8% of all listings sold. 8,469 (or 46.8%) of these sales above listing price were of freehold houses. 11.2% of condo sales also received more than the listing price.

56 listings in the City of Toronto sold for more than 140% of the asking price. The highest percentage received for a house - 163% - was paid in April for a detached home in Seaton Village. There was one sale at 313% of listing price of a vacant land at Eglinton and Mount Pleasant. One condo listing also sold for 140% of asking, getting $805,000 above the asking price of $1,995,000.

New rules are in place now to prevent a possible abuse of the hot market by unscrupulous individuals. The owners must decide, before the listing is posted, whether or not they are willing to entertain a preemptive offer, and that decision must be clearly stated on the listing. And the listing brokerage must keep on file all registered offers, either as a copy of the offer or a signed Offer Summary Document.

In December in the City of Toronto the average price of a detached house was $1,039,638, of a semi-detached was $743,738, and of a townhouse was $502,648. Condo apartments sold, on average, for $400,088, and condo townhouses for $477,628.