Toronto's suddenly dipping housing market appears poised to decline at a higher rate, according to early June numbers from one real estate expert.
John Pasalis, president and broker at Realosophy, says early sales numbers for the month continue to trend downward, indicating a potentially sharper drop in the Greater Toronto Area than the 20.3 per cent dip reported year-over-year in May. Overall, the numbers indicate Toronto's once skyrocketing housing market is coming back to Earth under new provincial taxation rules on foreign buyers.
According to numbers posted by Pasalis on Twitter, freehold home sales plunged by 47 per cent year-over year for the week of June 10-16, while condo sales dropped by 24 per cent. Those declines are even sharper than his numbers from the first week of June, when the numbers declined by 44 and 22 per cent, respectively.
Sales of freehold houses in the GTA down 47% last week pic.twitter.com/QGTi6HfmCa
— John Pasalis (@JohnPasalis) June 19, 2017
Condo sales in the GTA down 24% last week pic.twitter.com/2bpePh6Gzl
— John Pasalis (@JohnPasalis) June 19, 2017
Pasalis also reports new freehold home listings were up 21 per cent and trending downward last week, which he predicts will bring "a bit more balance to the market." Meanwhile, new listings of condos were up by just two per cent.
New listings of freehold properties up just 21% last week and trending down - bringing a bit more balance to the market pic.twitter.com/HYTPwByzs3
— John Pasalis (@JohnPasalis) June 19, 2017
New condo listings in the GTA up just 2% last week pic.twitter.com/3N54Z5KdG4
— John Pasalis (@JohnPasalis) June 19, 2017
The Canadian Real Estate Association hinted at more trouble on the horizon last week, when it reported that home sales had plummeted by 25.3 per cent in the GTA from April to May. The CREA says the GTA led a dip of 6.2 per cent nation-wide from month-to-month – the highest such drop in Canada in nearly five years.
Home prices in the GTA have yet to take a hit, but many are already sounding the alarm, with some suggesting Canada-wide prices could drop by 20-40 per cent before the end of 2017.
The average home price in Toronto currently sits at $863,910, trailing only Vancouver, where the average price is $1,110,376.