How's the Toronto real estate market?

Staying Safe While Shopping for Your Next Home

In hopes of everyone and their families staying safe during these unprecedented times, we have put together an informative newsletter.

We continue to offer our real estate services during the COVID-19 pandemic;

Properties which are new to market are continuing to do private showings, virtual tours and virtual open houses.

As our clients, your safety while searching for your next home is now a top priority. While ensuring that everyone’s health and safety is not at risk, we have put together extra precautions. If you are looking to view a property physically, we will be providing gloves, masks, and appropriate personal protective equipment to help mitigate the spread.

Let’s all be mindful moving forward by adhering to the following recommendations:

- Hand wash frequently for a minimum of 30 seconds

- Practice social distancing when viewing properties or elect to view the property with a

virtual tour

- Sellers are encouraged to disinfect surfaces, doorknobs, and high traffic areas

-Try to limit in-person meetings to phone, video or emails

Balanced Market

Real Estate has remained active during these difficult times. Our buyers are presented with more options through MLS and our Exclusive Networks. Offers are now often submitted without the added pressure of competition and can in turn, result in striking deals that would have typically entered into multiple offer scenarios. Sellers also continue to list their properties; Over 3,837 properties have been listed in Toronto over the last 28 days while 2,055 properties have sold in the GTA with an average of 11 days on the market.

Vacancy Rates Airbnb

It's no secret that COVID-19 has drastically impacted the tourism sector. Not only have hotels seen a drop in reservations but companies such as Airbnb have also witnessed the market decline.

On April 2nd Airbnb adjusted its valuation from 31 billion dollars to 26 billion, a 16% drop - to view the full report click here . During this time, some landlords are having trouble collecting rent due to the rise of unemployment rates. As such, many owners of rental properties are looking to sell some of their investment properties in order to relieve financial burden. These sellers are more motivated than ever to sell their properties and pull out equity. Now is the perfect opportunity to purchase an investment property at a more affordable price. Contact me today to book a showing of available investment properties.

Rising Interest Rates

While businesses struggle to find new ways to increase sales via online by offering discounts, one would think that banks would also be lowering their rates, however, they are doing the exact opposite. On March 13th TD Bank raised its interest rates from 2.69% to 2.89% for their 3-year fixed-rate mortgage. TD was not the only lender that raised their interest rates; Scotiabank and RBC soon followed the trend. We as Real Estate Professionals anticipate that interest rates will continue to rise. Keeping this in mind, we recommend locking in at a fixed rate on any existing open mortgages and taking advantage of the low rates as they are likely not to stay low for very long.

Toronto Real Estate Sold Prices and Home Search

Toronto sold prices and listing data, sold history, property evaluation services & days on the market information.

Ross Talibov

Real Estate Agent

Forest Hill Real Estate Inc., Brokerage*