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Toronto's Fast Moving Prices Spread To Surrounding Suburban Real Estate
5/2/2017 | Posted in Ontario Real Estate by Paul DeAdder | Back to Main Blog Page
Canadians are confident in the Canadian real estate market, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is. According to the latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), all but one significant market experienced price increases in March. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is of particular note, with prices spiking even in the surrounding areas.
Toronto Saw The Highest Increase
The city of Toronto saw the highest increase across the country in March, which probably wasn’t much of a surprise. The aggregate benchmark price, that is the price of a typical home being purchased, is now $772,500 – a 6.2% increase from the month prior. To contrast, last year’s market was pretty hot too, but it only increased 2.29% over the same period. March 2017 is almost 3 times the rate of 2016.
Areas Surrounding Toronto
Toronto’s enthusiastic buyers appear to be spreading to the surrounding areas, which is a little strange. Hamilton, about an hour drive from Toronto, saw prices increase 5.9%. Guelph, another metro area located within an hour, saw prices climb 3.6% from the month prior. And Oakville, about 20 minutes from Toronto, saw prices rise 3.6%. So it seems that buyers are equally enthusiastic about the surrounding markets as Canada’s largest city.
Everywhere But Central Canada Is Moving Fast
Actually, almost every metro area in Canada is doing very well according to CREA, the exception being central Canada. Regina saw a 0.2% increase from the month prior, and Calgary saw a 0.3% increase. Saskatoon saw a mild decline of 0.1%, which left it mostly flat. Now these numbers are far from bad, they just don’t look like much in contrast to rising prices across the country. Traditionally hot markets such as San Francisco, saw a decline of 5.7% during the same period.
The confidence from buyers comes at an interesting time, especially around the GTA. The Ontario government has increasingly expressed concerns that real estate prices in the province are moving unsustainably. The increase in speculative purchases, and an increase in subprime borrowing is reaching a boiling point. It’ll be interesting to see if cash flow can continue to support the optimistic buyers.
Source: Better Dwelling
