With the month of September behind us and looking at the statistics provided by the Toronto Real Estate Board, the overall market looks to be heading into a more balanced territory.

September’s Sales-to-New Listings ratio was similar to those of May, June and July, which were all off from the torrid pace set at the beginning of the year (see graph).  Keeping in mind that these statistics take into consideration the Greater Toronto Area. When you drill down into cities, and even further into neighbourhoods (and even some streets in particular neighbourhoods), we are still seeing a strong sellers market in some areas.

Real estate has always been and will continue to be first local, then regional, national then a global market.  Values rise and fall at different times throughout these markets and understanding the premise behind this, can help you better understand where and why prices are either rising or falling.

Not only are there “submarkets” to consider when it comes to houses, but even more so when we look into the condo market.

TREB’s Director of Market Analysis Jason Mercer says this “With more balanced market conditions, the pace of year-over-year price growth was more moderate in September compared to a year ago. However, the exception was the condominium apartment market segment, where average and benchmark sales prices were up by more than 20 per cent compared to last year.”

If you actively work in the condominium market you would well be aware that condos priced under about $450,000 are selling like hot cakes the past few months. Down-sizers? Investors? First Time Buyers? Who is driving it? 

This next graph sheds light on this a little better. Only 14% of all sales across the GTA were under $400,000! 85% were $400,000+. That’s quite an impressive feat. This further shows why Toronto condos are selling so fast. These figures don’t include new condo development sales and prices, but would you be surprised to hear that in the downtown core a luxury new build that hasn’t even broken ground yet sold out recently at an average of $1,150 per square foot! There are countless other examples of sold out developments happening over the past few months on product that won’t even be built (or may never?) for the next 4-5 years.

This is a very different story to what the general overall GTA housing market is reporting.

Get local. Get very narrow in your focus. Truly understand your market, and then be confident in your buying or selling decision. No has a crystal ball but you will feel better when you have a better grasp on what’s happening around you.