What did the Real Estate Board’s statistics show us last month? How’s the market? What are the pros and cons of selling and/or buying a home in December?
Watch this month’s market update video here: https://www.youtube.com/MiiaKelly_MarketUpdate_December2019
If you’d rather read than watch, then here’s the script for this video:
Hi, it’s Miia here with your monthly market update.
We’ve already had a blast of winter weather this year but as residents of Ontario, that doesn’t stop us from buying and selling real estate.
So, what did the Real Estate Board’s statistics show last month? Average home prices across the Greater Toronto Area were 7.1% higher than they were in November of last year. The average home price for all home types was $843,637. This 7.1% increase has been the strongest annual rate of price growth so far this year.
If we break that down by home type, we see that year-over-year, detached home prices were up by 3.5%, semi-detached homes were up by 5.7%, townhouses were up by 3.0% and condo apartments were up by 11.1%. If you’re looking for information about home prices in a certain home type in a certain neighbourhood, please do ask me about that.
The real estate market remains strong because there is strong population growth in the GTA, which feeds demand, and the supply of desirable homes, from new listings and new construction, is going at a slower pace than demand.
What are the pros and cons of selling and/or buying in December? If you are a selling your home in the month of December, then one of the advantages of doing so right now, is that you are more likely to have serious buyers looking at your home, because the people who are not ready to buy and who might normally be looking around “just watching the market” are too busy with their holiday shopping and attending holiday events. A major downside is that the month of December typically faces a lower average selling price in the GTA, than the Fall season that just passed, and than the Spring season that will be coming up. If you are buying a home in the month of December, then the greatest advantage is that you might get a better price if you find a home where the seller is highly motivated to sell quickly. The downside to buying in December is that there are less homes listed for sale at this time, so you will have less homes from which to choose.
Whatever your plans are for this month of holidays, I wish you, and your family and friends, a safe and joyful time.
That’s my update for this month. If you have any questions, let me know.
Bye for now.
