The demand for homes in some coveted neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas continues to hold stable and even rise, according to a new analysis, despite repeated interest rate hikes and larger global uncertainties cooling the housing market.
RE/MAX In Canada’s 2022 RE/MAX Hot Pocket Communities Report, 60 districts of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, 16 regions of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, and six regions of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board were examined for unit sales and average prices in the first and second quarters of 2022.
MEDIAN PRICE
The W09 neighbourhood in Toronto, which includes Kingsway Village, The Westway, Humber Heights, and Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview, had the highest average price rise for detached homes over the previous year at 35.2%. In this region, a detached home costs, on average, $1,551,803.
C01, which encompasses Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, Trinity-Bellwoods, Palmerston-Little Italy, Niagara, University, Kensington-Chinatown, Bay St. Corridor, and Waterfront Communities, is the area in Toronto with the worst performance. The number of sales of detached homes in that district fell by -0.7 annually. In this neighbourhood, a detached home costs, on average, $2,127,268 to purchase.
Toronto’s W02 district (High Park North, Junction Area, Runnymede-Bloor West Village, Lambton-Baby Point, Dovercourt-Wallace, and Emerson-Junction) experienced the city’s largest increase in sales from the first to second quarter of 2022 with a 7.3% increase, while C08 (Waterfront Communities, Moss Park, Cabbagetown-South, St. James Town, and Church-Yonge Corridor) saw an
King experienced a 24.1 percent gain over the previous year in York Region, while Richmond Hill witnessed a 12.2 percent decrease.
Aurora had the best change from Q1 to Q2 at -7.2 percent, while Stouffville had the worst change at -22.3 percent.
In Durham, Scugog had the highest average sales prices for detached homes, while Uxbridge had the lowest prices with a 12.7% increase.
Pickering had the best change from Q1 to Q2 at -10.3%, while Brock had the worst change at 19.4%.
With a 26.2 percent increase, Brampton leads the list in Peel Region, while Mississauga has the lowest increase at 15.5 percent.
Caledon had the best change from Q1 to Q2 at -7.3, while Brampton had the worst change at 14.8%.
Halton Hills experienced a 23.4 percent year-over-year rise in detached sales, while Milton experienced an 18.6 percent decrease.
Burlington had the best change from Q1 to Q2, dropping 6.2%, while Oakville had the worst change, dropping 15.6%.
The lone district in Dufferin Country, Orangeville, had growth of 26.47 percent annually and a fall of 12.6 percent from Q1 to Q2.
The majority of central and west Toronto neighbourhoods’ average prices in the GTA remained steady quite well, although Durham, Peel, York, Halton, and Dufferin experienced some losses in comparison to gains recorded in recent years.
Given that there is a limited number of homes for sale and that the core has historically been more robust. The results—higher household incomes and more equity at the upper end of the market—are not shocking, according to Christopher Alexander, president of RE/MAX Canada, in a news release on August 18.
“The price softening was notably more pronounced in suburban areas and the outer perimeters of the 416, most of which exhibits tremendous upward momentum during the height of the pandemic as buyers sought to leave the city,” according to the report.
The sky is far from falling [despite the reduction of costs].
Elton Ash, RE/MAX Canada’s executive vice-president
Buyers shouldn’t anticipate significant discounts because the market circumstances are actually very stable. Sales-to-active listings are still evenly distributed across all markets and are even tight in some, according to him.
In 50% of the marketplaces in Vancouver, for instance, the supply was lower in June than it was last year, and sales declined as a result. Prices will probably remain fairly constant going forward due to this trend.
UNIFORM SALES
There was a lot of fluctuation in unit sales data from year to year, with detached home sales in the GTA markets studied in the second quarter of 2022 increasing by 40%. According to the survey, the 416 area code saw the great majority of rises.
In addition, Durham was discovered to be a “hot zone,” with half of its markets reporting an increase in home sales.
The fear of future rate increases and increased housing affordability for those buyers who were active in Q2 “certainly provided the push for many to leap into detached house ownership,” Alexander said.
“In April and May, when the pandemic-fueled shopping spree came to an end, there was also a major impact from a wider selection, notably in highly sought-after hot pockets. As the overnight rate varied from 1% in early April to 1.5% in early June, buyers committed to five-year fixed terms.
The poorest area in Toronto is C10 (Mount Pleasant East and West), which witnessed a fall of 41.6%, while W07 (Stonegate-Queensway) is the only district that saw no change in unit sales.
C11 (Leaside, Thorncliffe Park, and Flemingdon Park) had the best Q1-Q2 performance at 119.0%, while C01 had the poorest Q1-Q2 performance at -37.9%.
In York Region, Richmond Hill had the lowest percentage of unit sales (-37.9%), while King had the highest percentage (-48.4%).
King had the best Q1-Q2 change at -7.0%, while King had the worst Q1-Q2 change at -36.8%.
In Durham, Clarington had the best annual unit sales decline, at -26.3 percent, while Brock had the worst decline, at 38.2 percent.
Scugog had the highest percentage growth from Q1 to Q2, at 48.3%, while Brock had the lowest, at -43.3%.
With a decline of 37.7%, Caledon leads the list in Peel Region, while Brampton has the lowest reduction (42.1%).
Caledon had the best change from Q1 to Q2 at -3.1 percent, while Brampton had the worst change at -19.8 percent.
Burlington experienced a year-over-year increase in detached unit sales of 21.0%, while Oakville experienced a decrease of 42.4%.
Burlington had the best change from Q1 to Q2 at 1.8%, while Oakville had the worst change at 14.7%.
The single district in Dufferin Country, Orangeville, experienced a decrease of 8.3 percent between the first and second quarters and a year-over-year increase of -32.10 percent.