15 February 2018

Many sales drops were reported in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe markets, where sales were up in 2017 after the news about new mortgage rules.

In addition to it, the number of newly listed properties also fell by 21.6% to its lowest level since the spring of 2009.  Listings declines were seen in almost 85% of all local markets, with the GTA leading the way.

“Another round of rules tightening starting this year made homebuyers feel even more uncertain and confused,” – noted CREA president Andrew Peck.

“However, those changes didn’t address government worries about rising home prices caused by an extreme lack of supply in such major markets as Vancouver and Toronto. Until this issue is solved, the worries will only get stronger.”

Meanwhile, BMO Capital Markets senior economist Robert Kavcic says Toronto real estate sales went down by 26.6% last month, although it almost fully offsets the sales growth reported during the last three months of 2017.

In case of Vancouver, the sales decline reached 10.5%.

According to Kavcic, Vancouver has a similar conditions problem as Toronto, with detached houses becoming cheaper and condos showing an annual price increase of 27%.

He also warned not to read the report too much.

“In our opinion, the most of the national real estate market is well balanced, as local markets react appropriately to different changes of fundamentals and rules. In case of the GTA, the detached market is still adjusting to extra measures at the provincial level, and condo markets in Vancouver and Toronto remain too hot.”