On a year-over-year basis, sales were down by 13.3 per cent compared to November 2016.
A wave of new listings pushed home prices lower in Toronto in November as sellers try to lock in deals before new mortgage stress-testing rules take effect in January.
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) said the average home sold for $761,757 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in November, down 2.4 per cent compared with October. The November drop halted a modest price recovery that began in September and continued in October, after a downturn through the spring and summer.
Prices slipped in November as buyers faced a glut of purchasing options, especially for detached houses in the 905 region surrounding the City of Toronto. New home listings climbed 37 per cent compared with last November, as sellers listed homes before the tougher mortgage qualification rules come into force in the new year, leaving 18,197 homes listed for sale in the GTA at the end of November. That's a 111-per-cent increase in inventory from the 8,639 homes listed at the same time last year.
The result is that prices for all home types fell 2 per cent compared with a year ago, while the average detached house price of $996,527 was down almost 6 per cent from a year ago. GTA prices have fallen 17 per cent on average from the market's peak in April.
Robert Goodall, president of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp., an alternative mortgage lender, believes some sellers are opting to list their homes before the new mortgage rules kick in. The rules, unveiled in October by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), will require buyers to prove they could still afford their homes if interest rates were significantly higher, making it harder for some buyers to get into the market.
"It may mean sellers are very aware of the OSFI rules and are trying to get a purchase and sale agreement in place before the end of the year," Mr. Goodall said.
He said some sellers have concluded that "it's better to sell now than to wait." He added he believes the housing market could soften for the first three to six months next year, but not for much longer.
Not all sellers listing detached homes this fall are being practical about the price they can get in today's market, which is contributing to the growing inventory of detached homes in his region.
Source: The Globe and Mail
Post a comment