Monday, February 9, 2015

Market Watch: 2014 In Review

Nearly breaking the sales transaction record of 2007, 2014 proved an incredibly strong year for the Real Estate market. Total transactions reached 87,049, a 6.7% increase from 2013. Along with transaction numbers, sales increased as well, reaching an average of $566,726. This number is an 8.7% increase from 2013 illustrating the predominant Seller’s market we have witnessed over the past year.

Although the amount of listings available is continuing to climb, Sellers have not kept up with the number of eager buyers, meaning sale prices are being driven up - often in multiple offers situation. This is mostly seen at the comparative lower end of the price spectrum of freehold and semi-detached houses (around and under one million in price).

Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis confirms the market data:

"The strong price growth we experienced in 2014 can be explained with two words: listings shortage. The constrained supply of listings was especially evident for low-rise home types like singles, semis and town houses. The number of households looking to purchase these home types increased, while the number of homes from which they could choose decreased. This situation resulted in more competition between buyers and more aggressive offers,"


Despite the competitive buyer’s market, we still see much optimism. As interest rates remain low, monthly mortgage payments also remain affordable. With the beginning of January marking the outer fringe of the traditional “spring” market, expect sellers that waited out the holiday season to begin putting their homes on the market, resulting in a greater number of listings.