rbt
Senior Member
My understanding is that the procedure changed for 2013, and only 2013 data contains the double counting. Can't recall the source where I read that.
If true, that is a huge problem.
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My understanding is that the procedure changed for 2013, and only 2013 data contains the double counting. Can't recall the source where I read that.
Toronto new condo sales post worst August showing in a decade
TARA PERKINS - REAL ESTATE REPORTER
The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Sep. 23 2013, 11:37 AM EDT
The number of new condos that sold in the Greater Toronto Area during the month of August dropped to 633, the lowest level for that month in a decade, according to RealNet Canada Inc.
The figure is 18-per-cent lower than the 772 sales that occurred in August of 2012. There were 1,923 sales in August of 2011.
Toronto’s condo market has been a significant source of concern for policy makers in Ottawa in recent years, including at the Finance Department and Bank of Canada. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressed concern in 2012 that he felt too many new units were being built, a phenomenon that could ultimately lead to a crash. The Bank of Canada has said that such a crash could pose a threat to the country’s broader economy. Real estate agents say the warnings have been having an impact on the market, by causing some buyers to think twice about getting in.
Mr. Flaherty has also taken a number of steps to cool the market, most notably tightening the mortgage insurance rules 14 months ago. One of the changes he made was to cut the maximum length of an insured mortgage to 25 years from 30, a move that took a number of first-time buyers out of the market.
The total number of new homes, both low-rise and high-rise, that have sold in the Toronto area so far this year stands at 16,775, the lowest year-to-date total of the last 10 years, RealNet said Monday.
There were 777 sales of new low-rise houses during August. While that is up 32 per cent from 588 one year earlier, it is 43 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.
While a growing number of tall condo towers are dotting the city’s skyline, the amount of land that’s available for the construction of new low-rise homes is constrained because of government policies aimed at curbing urban sprawl and maintaining green space.
“Constrained land supply has severely diminished inventory in the low-rise sector, bringing prices to a considerable increase,” stated Brian Tuckey, the CEO of BILD, which represents developers.
The price gap between new high-rise and low-rise homes has widened to a record level of $222,149. RealNet’s low-rise price index rose 8.1 per cent over the past year to a record high of $658,938, while the high-rise price index eked out a mere 0.1 per cent gain to $436,789.
The gap between the price of new high-rise and low-rise homes averaged about $75,000 between 2004 and 2011, but has been growing at a fast clip during the last two years.
The unsold inventory of new low-rise homes now stands at 7,247, RealNet said, while there are 21,028 new unsold high-rise homes.
August marked the fourth straight decline in high-rise inventory, as developers have been bringing fewer new units to market of late. But economists say that the number of new condo buildings going up is set to rise in 2014.
Interesting anecdotal evidence from Patrick Rocca (a big kahuna in Leaside) about a bifurcated market (fierce bidding wars $450-$600k, maybe up to $800k; very little at the $1.2M level -- dead like dead). Numbers are lower here in East York, but same feel -- smoking hot market for first buyers or condo move-ups, but ZERO on the $900k+ flipper/2nd home front. Three homes within a block of us taken off the market w/o sales, rest have yet to sell.
Has the top set in, or was it just an '89 style overreach on a few properties?
REcharts: the charts are too small for me to make out.
Can you precis them for me in a bit more detail:
Am I correct in understanding that condos, especially in the C1 to C9 districts are going down.
SFH homes Higher end sales are essentially flat except for a few areas of very expensive homes which are slightly up?
Do not get insulted but I have a question about this data related to condos. We know the average size of condos has been going down over the past few years. As the mix changes year on year of the condo sales, surely there are smaller condos "on average" being sold. My point is say 5 years ago the average condo was 850 sq.ft. and now it is 750 sq.ft. Surely if condos sell on price/sq.ft. basis, just looking at the average is going to over represent the down trend. I also appreciate that newer condos will fetch more/sq.ft. partially offsetting this. I also understand that this year CREA changed its reporting and this is resulting in double and triple counting of listings thereby inflating sales numbers.
I understand prices are dropping but the real question is: Is the price/sq.ft. dropping and are same buildings, same units dropping. My sense is more expensive condos are but the less than $400-500K condos are not. Again, this is not based on numbers but just what seems to be happening. Do you have a way to confirm this....possibly using Teranet numbers though I am not sure if Teranet does condos or only SFH's.
Addendum: I was able to read the enlarged charts...thank you. Can you still respond to my paragraph about price/sq.ft.as the only number I recall seeing was that it was down about $4 based on $400 or about 1%. Down yes but if true, hardly alarming though you may be right that more price adjustments are coming.
Going that deep with the comparison will get you nowhere because this debate has no end
Price sqft can not be calculated accurately for the simple reason that MLS listings have SQFT ranges not the exact size
Some times the agent mentions the exact number in the listing description
The price per sqft is very local but the decline is general.
On top of that older units are larger but a higher maintenance fee (more sqft and older buildings) so the decline is bigger for these units
They are harder to sell, condo is traditionally a first time buyer's market and they will not go for the high end
Here is a fact: I had a short look at some condos in my area, the idea was to wait there till the SFH market implodes
I wanted to see what I could buy for half of the average price for a SFH. The condos will decline more than SFH but the total amount you lose over the same number of years is smaller ...so that might be a good plan if you have to buy in the next 6 months
Wanting to proceed with the above I looked at the price per SFQT for some units (above 1000sqft) and I actually discovered that the price per sqft was higher for matchboxes than for bigger condos!!
A couple multi million dollar homes in my parents Oakville neighbourhood have been rented out due to not being able to sell. Inventory has gone up slowly in the last month.Interesting anecdotal evidence from Patrick Rocca (a big kahuna in Leaside) about a bifurcated market (fierce bidding wars $450-$600k, maybe up to $800k; very little at the $1.2M level -- dead like dead). Numbers are lower here in East York, but same feel -- smoking hot market for first buyers or condo move-ups, but ZERO on the $900k+ flipper/2nd home front. Three homes within a block of us taken off the market w/o sales, rest have yet to sell.
Has the top set in, or was it just an '89 style overreach on a few properties?
Graphs showing sales decreasing May to Sept are to be expected. It is a normal season variance.
As a bear, I'll admit I'm surprised by the sales and price figures for August/September.
No change in my expectations, but I am increasingly curious about who are these people who are buying at these in this market.
Most of the anecdotal evidence I hear is people removing their property from listing because they can't get any interest at "the price they need to sell at". But maybe I just don't travel in the right circles?
A couple multi million dollar homes in my parents Oakville neighbourhood have been rented out due to not being able to sell. Inventory has gone up slowly in the last month.