Heat Wave?
The Toronto real estate market is alive and well! If it was NBA Jam (oh how I loved that game) the announcer would be screaming “he’s heating up!” and the basketball would be engulfed in flames when a player shoots it. If you recall my last blog post, I spoke about the return of multiple offer scenarios and how they are becoming common place once again in the Toronto real estate landscape. Well, to put it simply, this trend has continued and a major shift in buyer confidence has led to the market really picking up some steam.
NBA Jam
In Toronto, 653 Freehold homes have been listed over the past 14 days. 117 of those listed freehold homes have already sold firm* with the average selling price being about 4.9% higher than the asking price. The average DOM (days on market) for these 117 listings was only four days. As you can see, not every home is selling like hot cakes but the properties that show the best (functional layout, good price, few renos needed, well staged, professional photos etc) have been flying off the shelves.
If we tighten the window to the past 7 days, there have been 22 properties that have already been listed and sold in that time. The average days on market for those properties? 2 days.
A view of the Kitchen with Dining Room in the background (85 Rockwell Ave)
Case in point, 85 Rockwell Ave (seen above & below) was co-listed by my colleagues Jordan Rasberry and John O’Connor of Core Assets Real Estate. A beautifully renovated 3 bedroom 2 bathroom semi-detached home just north of The Junction, this home lasted just two days on the market. The property was listed on February 27th and instantly garnered a ton of interest. They had an offer presentation date set for March 6th, but received a bully offer within hours of being on the market. The property sold firm on February 1st for $1,150,000; list price, $999,000.
A view of the Dining Room with Living Room in the background (85 Rockwell Ave)
The real estate market is tough to time and often hard to predict. The fervour for housing has always been here but recent interest rate hikes and economical factors temporarily put a damper on consumer confidence. Now that inflation has begun to regress and the public has adjusted to these new interest rates (with the hopes that they will only become more favourable moving forward), it appears that more and more buyers are capable/willing to shoot their shot for the homes they desire.
Timing the market can be difficult
*Sold firm: a sale is considered firm when a buyer and seller agree to the terms of the deal and all conditions (ie. home inspection, arranging financing etc) have been fulfilled. Likewise, a house can be sold firm when a buyer and seller agree on a sale price and closing date and the transaction does not include any conditions at all.
