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.
