Toronto, home prices down 4.1%.

Toronto region home prices down 4.1% in January.
Toronto area home prices could drop further than the 4.1 per cent year over year decline to $736,783 on average in January, being reported by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), says a Queen’s University professor.

The stock market turbulence of the last few days could be a bigger factor for homebuyers than people realize, said John Andrew, of Queen’s school of regional and urban planning.

Added to new mortgage stress testing, higher interest rates and the continued dampening effect of Ontario’s Fair Housing Policy last spring, buyers may hesitate to jump into the property market, he said.
Read more

Home inspections are back, speculation is down: Charles Sousa on latest Toronto home sales data
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa joins Business Day to discuss the latest Toronto housing data, showing prices actually fell from April to May after the provincial government’s measures aimed at cooling the hot housing market took hold in Ontario.

https://blogs.wf.com/assetmanagement/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/07/blog-bubble.png

The money shot being the line “GTA” with the average price being $784,558 in 2018 and $915,126 in 2017. **This is 16% down year over year.
**

== TREB NEWS RELEASE ==](http://www.trebhome.com/market_news/release_market_updates/news2018/nr_market_watch_0318.htm)

Actually The prices stayed at the level of asking as before but with fewer people in the market the price paid has dropped in the GTA by the 4.percent. Throughout Ontario real estate dropped an average in the first Quarter by 4.5 percent but were still 16 percent over 2016 making the high prices paid in 2017 just a market demand blip.

Good post Bruce! Statistics require analyses.

BUSINESS
04/07/2018 10:40 EDT | Updated 04/07/2018 13:45 EDT
Toronto Real Estate’s Harsh New Reality: BuyerBeware
Half of Toronto’s recently-delivered condos were boughtby investors, and nearly half of them are losing money.

Mark Blinch /Reuters
Condominiumsare seen under construction in Toronto, July 10, 2011.
Untilrecently, Greater Toronto’s housing market had been something of a fairy tale.Years and years of price growth convinced many that buying into the market — atany price — would pay off. In essence, a house in Toronto had become a miracleinvestment: no matter what happened, you made money.
Butnow, with home sales in the metro area down nearly 40 per cent over the pastyear, and [FONT=“Times New Roman”]pricesdown 14 per cent](http://news.huffingtonpost.com/t/t-l-utluuly-l-j/) in that time, the market is doing something ithasn’t done in a good three decades: It’s creating losers.[/FONT]
Watch:Bank seeing evidence of speculation in Toronto housing market
The Toronto Star [FONT=“Times New Roman”]reportedrecently](http://news.huffingtonpost.com/t/t-l-utluuly-l-t/) on a group of buyers of pre-sale homes in Oakville, whomade down payments in February 2017 (just before the peak of Toronto’s houseprices) and who are now stuck with the bill for homes they can no longerafford.[/FONT]
Their current homes can’t be sold for theamount they expected last year. With new government-mandated mortgage stresstests in place, and lenders re-assessing the value of GTA properties, theycan’t get mortgages to cover the full amount. They fear they may get sued bythe developer, Mattamy Homes, if they don’t close on their deals.

Rick Madonik via Getty Images TheMattamy Homes Preserve development in Oakville, Ont., where a number of buyersare under financial pressure following a decline in house prices in the area.
They are not the only ones toface financial pressure from a slowing market. According to [FONT=“Times New Roman”]areport](http://news.huffingtonpost.com/t/t-l-utluuly-l-i/) from CIBC and real estate consultancy Urbanation, releasedFriday, many of the city’s condo investors are now losing money.[/FONT]
The study found that nearly halfof the condos delivered in 2017 — 48 per cent — were bought by investors. Andof those, nearly half — 44 per cent — have "negative cash flow,"meaning rental income isn’t covering the costs of ownership, such as mortgageand condo fees. (Some 80 per cent of investors have a mortgage, so leavingunits empty isn’t a good option for most.) And more than a third of thoselosing money are losing more than $1,000 a month.

So is it time to panic? No. Or,well, not yet. For those who bought well before last year’s peak, the mathstill adds up nicely. Most homeowners would not be underwater on theirmortgages if they sold today. Most condo investors have made large gains in theresale value of their properties over the past several years, even if for manyrent isn’t covering costs.
And even if all the investorswho are losing more than $500 a month bailed on the market, they would increasehousing supply by only 3.4 per cent of the total, the CIBC/Urbanation reportestimated — hardly enough to flood the market and tank prices.

CIBC/Urbanation
But the lesson here is thatthings have changed, and the housing market going forward won’t be like thehousing market of recent years. Rapid house price growth is unlikely, if for noother reason than governments are now actively fighting to stop it.
For some investors, that couldbe bad news. The CIBC/Urbanation study estimates that an investor who buys atypical condo today will need to see 17 per cent growth in rental rates to makemoney off that condo when they take possession in 2021. If mortgage rates riseby a single percentage point, they’ll need 28 per cent rental growth. It’spossible to get that, but it’s by no means guaranteed.

And for those who buy pre-salehomes, it means scaling back your ambitions. You can’t be sure that your homewill sell tomorrow for as much as it would sell today, as those buyers inOakville have learned. Nor can you be sure that you’ll get a mortgage tomorrowthat’s as large as the one being offered today, because mortgage rates are onthe rise, and regulators could tighten rules again.
So in essence, it means we nowhave to take to heart an old adage that has been long forgotten in Toronto’sreal estate market: Buyer beware.

Bubbles pop. It’s Toronto’s inevitable turn. Buckle up.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/04/07/toronto-real-estate-new-reality_a_23405449/

BUSINESS
04/07/201810:40 EDT | Updated 04/07/2018 13:45EDT
Toronto Real Estate’s Harsh New Reality: Buyer Beware
Half ofToronto’s recently-delivered condos were bought by investors, and nearly halfof them are losing money.

Mark Blinch /Reuters
Condominiumsare seen under construction in Toronto, July 10, 2011.
Until recently, GreaterToronto’s housing market had been something of a fairy tale. Years and years ofprice growth convinced many that buying into the market — at any price — wouldpay off. In essence, a house in Toronto had become a miracle investment: nomatter what happened, you made money.
But now, with home sales in themetro area down nearly 40 per cent over the past year, and prices down 14 percent in that time, the market is doing something it hasn’t done in a goodthree decades: It’s creating losers.
Watch: Bank seeingevidence of speculation in Toronto housing market
The Toronto Star reported recentlyon a group of buyers of pre-sale homes in Oakville, who made down payments inFebruary 2017 (just before the peak of Toronto’s house prices) and who are nowstuck with the bill for homes they can no longer afford.
Their current homes can’t besold for the amount they expected last year. With new government-mandatedmortgage stress tests in place, and lenders re-assessing the value of GTAproperties, they can’t get mortgages to cover the full amount. They fear theymay get sued by the developer, Mattamy Homes, if they don’t close on theirdeals.

Rick Madonik via Getty Images The MattamyHomes Preserve development in Oakville, Ont., where a number of buyers areunder financial pressure following a decline in house prices in the area.
They are not the only ones toface financial pressure from a slowing market. According to a report from CIBCand real estate consultancy Urbanation, released Friday, many of the city’scondo investors are now losing money.
The study found that nearly halfof the condos delivered in 2017 — 48 per cent — were bought by investors. Andof those, nearly half — 44 per cent — have "negative cash flow,"meaning rental income isn’t covering the costs of ownership, such as mortgageand condo fees. (Some 80 per cent of investors have a mortgage, so leavingunits empty isn’t a good option for most.) And more than a third of thoselosing money are losing more than $1,000 a month.

So is it time to panic? No. Or,well, not yet. For those who bought well before last year’s peak, the mathstill adds up nicely. Most homeowners would not be underwater on theirmortgages if they sold today. Most condo investors have made large gains in theresale value of their properties over the past several years, even if for manyrent isn’t covering costs.
And even if all the investorswho are losing more than $500 a month bailed on the market, they would increasehousing supply by only 3.4 per cent of the total, the CIBC/Urbanation reportestimated — hardly enough to flood the market and tank prices.

CIBC/Urbanation
But the lesson here is thatthings have changed, and the housing market going forward won’t be like thehousing market of recent years. Rapid house price growth is unlikely, if for noother reason than governments are now actively fighting to stop it.
For some investors, that couldbe bad news. The CIBC/Urbanation study estimates that an investor who buys atypical condo today will need to see 17 per cent growth in rental rates to makemoney off that condo when they take possession in 2021. If mortgage rates riseby a single percentage point, they’ll need 28 per cent rental growth. It’spossible to get that, but it’s by no means guaranteed.

And for those who buy pre-salehomes, it means scaling back your ambitions. You can’t be sure that your homewill sell tomorrow for as much as it would sell today, as those buyers inOakville have learned. Nor can you be sure that you’ll get a mortgage tomorrowthat’s as large as the one being offered today, because mortgage rates are onthe rise, and regulators could tighten rules again.
So in essence, it means we nowhave to take to heart an old adage that has been long forgotten in Toronto’sreal estate market: Buyer beware.

I’m not sure Toronto has a bubble to pop. Lots of people around the world with lots of money looking for a safe place to park their money, a safe place for their kids to grow up. Toronto has a strong economy and lots of culture.

https://www.whichmortgage.ca/article/toronto-real-estate-values-have-dropped-135m-in-less-than-five-months-240978.aspx

**Toronto real estate values have dropped $135m in less than five months **
By Michael Mata | this page was lastupdated on the 16 Apr 2018

Toronto’s real estate market erased anestimated $135m in value in 135 days after the housing bubble was pricked,
according to a new report from Realosophy, aToronto-based real estate brokerage.
“While Toronto residents have been hearing(largely premature) warning signs about Toronto’s real estate bubble fromeconomists
and analysts for well over ten years, achange in the data suggested a legitimate cause for concern in the last fewyears,” the report said.
“Between January 2013 and March 2017, medianprices of all properties (including houses and condos) in the Great Toronto Area
(GTA) nearly doubled from $392,000 to$765,000—an astonishing rate of growth in just over four years.
At thepeak of the market in March 2017, prices had increased by 34% over the previous year.”

Quite suddenly, the market then took a dive,with Toronto’s median home price dropping by 18% from March 2017 to July 2017,landing at $626,000.

Realosophy said this drop was more rapid than“the hardest-hit US markets, like Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix after the peakof their bubbles in 2006.”

“We’ve kind of pricked this bubble,” JohnPasalis, president of Realosophy, told CTVNews.ca.
“For this year, it looks like things aregoing to be pretty stable. It’s possible you might see price declines goingforward in the future,
but something else has to happen.”