Toronto house gets flood of offers and sells for $420,000 above asking in 'ridiculous' market
A Toronto townhouse on a busy street that drew multiple offers and sold for $420,000 above asking is a sign there is still plenty of heat left in the city’s red-hot market.
But even as sellers are celebrating, there are warnings that the true costs of the high prices will be borne by local businesses facing labour shortages and a generation unable to own their homes.
"The property was a very good product. We’re lucky to have this property," selling realtor Teuta Guci told CTV News Toronto.
The three-bedroom townhouse, on Coxwell Avenue north of Michael Garron Hospital, attracted four bids and ended up selling for $1.52 million dollars, or almost 40 per cent over the asking price.
"We thought we did good. It was a really great price," she said.
The lack of a yard in the townhouse was made up for by the fact it had been recently renovated and showed very well, Guci said.
Figures released from Royal LePage's House Price Survey show after the pandemic-related downturn last year, low interest rates and new buyer confidence have pushed the GTA back into a sellers' market.
"The housing industry, as many people know by now, has been on fire," said Royal LePage’s president, Phil Soper.
And low supply of homes to buy, compared to a lot of people looking, has contributed to many price hikes, he said.
"It's ridiculous. So much demand, and so few homes for sale," he said.
Figures from Royal LePage’s housing survey showed the median price of a detached home in the GTA is $1.301 million, up 28.2 per cent since last year’s slump.
The median price of a condo in the GTA is now $630,000, up 8.6 per cent since last year.
The price jumps in the city, the low supply, and the ease of working remotely are likely making non-urban properties more attractive — single family homes in Milton for example jumped 40 per cent since last year.
Those figures are comparing the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2020. When compared to the first quarter, it’s clear the market has cooled somewhat, Soper said.
But economist Mike Moffatt of Western University’s Richard Ivey School of Business said the downside of high home prices is that they could damage the local economy in the long run.
“We’re already hearing about labour shortages and part of that could be because people can’t afford to live where the jobs are,” Moffatt said.
“Vancouver is one example, San Francisco is another, where you have these high housing prices that are keeping out talent and forcing people to move away from the city,” he said.
The City of Toronto is proposing a vacancy tax, which may have a small impact, he said.
“It could get some of the homes on the market that are empty, but it’s not a silver bullet,” he said. “We’ve seen that in Vancouver, where it helped a bit on the margins, but prices are still going up,” he said.
Guci agreed the market has changed since even a few months ago. But she said the sellers still have the advantage.
“The buyers are outside. And we are in Toronto, the subway is here, downtown is here, you know, I think this is going to last,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.
The House is on the brink of approving aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle
The House is preparing in a rare Saturday session to approve US$95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.