Posted by
Trish Buchanan Real Estate I Paul Nusca Team
(416) 471-9175 -
#1-1 Willingdon Blvd., 2nd Fl,, Toronto, Ontario, M8X 1B9, Canada
2018 brought new lending requirements which affected affordability for first-time home buyers. As an existing homeowner, if you don’t have anyone to buy your house, you can’t move up or move over. This contributed to a shortage in listings, which decreased sales 16.1% from 2017.
Interestingly, the average condo price is up 7.8% from 2017. However, housing affordability is unlikely to improve as homeownership costs relative to median incomes will continue to rise.
Toronto immigration will continue to have an impact on the market as we are a big destination on a global scale - the average amount of people moving into the GTA is about 100,000 a year and keeps growing! Further, in the GTA, 700,000 millennials will be in the market for a home in the next decade, according to OREA. Therefore, RLP expects the GTA market to see modest gains, with home prices rising 1.3% in 2019.
With an overall slowing global economy and falling stock markets, the central banks are rethinking rate increases as RBC has dropped its fixed-term mortgage rate to 3.74. Canadians with variable-rate mortgages will also likely be spared being hit with higher monthly costs. By the end of 2019, RBC is projecting that “owning a home will take up 79 per cent of the median household income” in Toronto.