forma condo.The highest house price in Canada? Toronto is now the most expensive city in Canada, beating Vancouver to become the most expensive real estate market for the first time in decades, according to a new report.Please Visit: forma condo to Get Your VVIP Registration Today!
A report released on Friday by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), based on data released by the Real Estate Bureau in January, showed that Toronto’s composite MLS benchmark index (MLS HPI) for January was C $1.26 million, compared with C $1.255 million in Vancouver.
In other words, Toronto beat Vancouver to become number one in the Canadian real estate market for the first time in decades.
“given how hot the real estate market in the Toronto area has become, especially since the fall, this is an amazing development, but not entirely surprising,” Robert Hogue, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, wrote in a report on Friday.
The Toronto MLS HPI benchmark price has soared over the past five months, rising 4.3%, or nearly C $52000, in January alone. House prices in Vancouver are also accelerating, but to varying degrees. ”
Even with a surge in COVID-19 cases this winter, pandemic restrictions and a blizzard in January, Toronto’s real estate market has not slowed, Mr. Hogg said.
He added that the surge in prices was partly due to competition among buyers for offer “as fierce as ever”.
“the fierce bidding war has pushed Toronto home prices to new highs, with an annual growth rate of 33.3%,” Hogg said. In fact, the Toronto area is now the most expensive real estate market in Canada. ”
“buyers particularly like single-family homes (prices are up 36 per cent year-on-year and more than 40 per cent in Dulin and Pierre districts), but there is also growing interest in apartments (prices are up 26 per cent year-on-year).”
In Vancouver, buyers are challenged by “inventory at the bottom,” Mr. Hogg said. Active housing, which was at a multi-year low last month, has barely increased this month, preventing buying opportunities.
Hogg expects the market to cool down later this year because of rising interest rates.
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise interest rates next month, which may ease the housing market to some extent.
Referring to the trend of house prices across Canada, Hogg said: “our view is that Canadian-wide home sales will remain exceptionally strong in the short term, although we expect the cooling to start later this year as a result of interest rate hikes.”
“with the expected substantial growth in housing completion, we believe this will gradually ease the extreme imbalance between buying and selling in the market and timely ease the pace of price appreciation.”