GTA Real Estate Market At A Glance - February 2020 TRREB Market Report

Predictions for a strong sales and price growth in 2020 are proving to be right with February hitting an all-time record sales increase. As market conditions tightened over the past year, competition between buyers has clearly increased, according to TRREB’s February Market Watch Report.

From determining your buying or selling strategies, adjusting timelines, to setting up realistic expectations, and predicting investment outcomes, we’ve got you covered. We’ve summarized this month’s report into a bite-sized digest so that you can be better educated in Real Estate and the current market trends.

Sales at a record high 45.6% increase

TRREB registered a total of 7,256 residential transactions in February, an increase of 45.6% compared to a 10-year sales low in February last year. After preliminary seasonal adjustment, February 2020 sales also exhibited positive momentum, up by 14.8% compared to January 2020. 

New listings were up 7.9% compared to last February, however with the record-high increase in sales, the change is not significant. Overall, active listings dropped by 33.6% so inventory remains extremely low compared to demand.

Average price is now $910,290

As market conditions tightened over the past year, competition between buyers continues to drive up property prices. The average selling price for all home types combined was up by 16.7% to $910,290. With most major market segments, including detached houses and condominium apartments, showing a double-digit price growth. 

Detach homes lead on the price increase front with the average price now $1,113,918. Detached homes are the second most expensive type of property, however, condos saw the biggest increase (price is now 18.6% higher than in February 2019).

The impact of Coronavirus

The Bank of Canada cut the lending rate by half a point in the first week of March. This is a massive decrease in the interest rates and the biggest drop in 11 years. Since it’s cheaper to borrow we’ll see an increase in how much people are likely to spend. It also means there will be an influx of potential buyers that previously might not have been able to enter the market.

On an already tight market, this will mean further issues with inventory. As 20 or 30 people start competing for the same property we’ll see frequent bidding wars and buyers overpaying. The GTA Real Estate market is such a tight seller’s market that, even if the Coronavirus keeps some buyers from showing up to see properties, it won’t have a significant impact.