Experienced buyer & investor bump in key detached housing markets signals watershed moment
Detached home values climb in over 80% of Fraser Valley communities; 70% of Greater Vancouver; and 40% of the GTA’s 905 areas
With first-time buyers locked out of the country’s most expensive housing markets, move-up/down buyers and investors have been fuelling detached home-buying activity in the first six months of 2024 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) and Fraser Valley. RE/MAX surveyed 83 communities across the GTA, the GVA and the Fraser Valley, and found that 30 per cent reported an upswing in the number of detached housing sales in the first half of the year (25/83), while close to 40 per cent of markets (33/83) reported an increase in values. Toronto detached homes led the other regions in rebounding sales momentum, with just over 34 per cent of neighbourhoods in the 416 experiencing stability or growth in buying activity — ahead of the 905, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Meanwhile, detached price appreciation was led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, driven by limited inventory levels. Fraser Valley took the lead, with 83.3 per cent (5/6) of local areas noting an upswing in average price, followed by Greater Vancouver, which saw median values increase in 70.6 per cent of neighbourhoods.
Detached Home Sales Swing in Greater Toronto Housing Market
“While affordability remains the top obstacle for first-time homebuyers, more experienced buyers and investors are taking advantage of softer housing values, making their moves ahead of the Bank of Canada’s end to quantitative tightening,” says RE/MAX Canada President Christopher Alexander. “Pent-up demand continues to build, with an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 buyers currently lying in wait in the GTA, and another 5,000 buyers in the Greater Vancouver area ready to pull the trigger. The first interest rate cut in June did little to incentivize buyers, but early indications show the second may have struck a nerve.”
To illustrate, the 10-year average for sales in the Greater Toronto area is just over 92,000 annually. Given the drop to 66,000 sales in 2023, and just over 75,000 homes sold in 2022, the region’s real estate market has seen a shortfall of 43,000 sales during the past two years alone. The same argument can be made for the Greater Vancouver Area, where annual sales have typically averaged over 33,000 during the past decade. Over 26,000 homes sold in 2023, while close to 29,000 homes sold in 2022 – a shortfall of about 11,000 transactions.
“Buying intentions slowed, while new household formation, lifecycle events, immigration and population growth have continued,” says Alexander. “The right conditions will undoubtably unleash demand. Meantime, certain neighbourhoods have proven stronger than others.”
In the Greater Toronto real estate market, pockets that posted notable percentage gains in home-buying activity include Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, Trinity-Bellwoods, Palmerston-Little Italy, Niagara, University, Kensington-Chinatown, Bay St. Corridor, Waterfront Communities (C01); Oakwood Village, Humewood-Cedarvale, Yonge-Eglinton, Forest Hill South (C03); Rosedale-Moore Park (C09); Leaside, Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park (C11); Rockcliffe-Smythe, Keelesdale-Eglinton West, Caledonia-Fairbank, Corso Italia-Davenport, Weston-Pelham Park (W03).
“Vibrant downtown/midtown communities remain a perennial favourite among purchasers in Toronto, who are vying for detached properties in coveted blue-chip neighbourhoods such as Rosedale-Moore Park, Forest Hill South, the Kingsway, Leaside, and The Beaches, as well as gentrified areas including Trinity-Bellwoods, Palmerston-Little Italy, and Corso Italia-Davenport,” says Alexander.
*Source: https://blog.remax.ca/detached-houses-toronto-vancouver/
