It's no secret that Toronto home sales have taken a huge hit in the past month.
It's also no secret that the real estate industry was off to a big start this year and both home sales and home prices were expected to remain "hot" throughout 2020. That is, of course, until coronavirus doused the sector with some COVID reality. But that dousing doesn't currently seem as though it will be permanent, given the pent up demand for housing in Toronto.
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And it's possible some evidence of the housing market's resiliency is already starting to show.
After two straight weeks of year-over-year growth in Toronto home sales taking greater than -70% hits, the week of April 18-25 saw 'just' a -57% drop, according to John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty.
And while a nearly 60% y-o-y drop isn't exactly news to get excited about, it does at least seem to flatten (if not round) the negative curve Toronto home sales have been seeing since the end of March. Combine this information with the fact that Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced his plan for re-opening the province's economy today, and the idea of buyers and sellers starting to become a little more comfortable than they were in early to mid-April is definitely a possibility.
According to Pasalis, new listings were down 63% year-over-year last week, which is roughly on par with the previous two weeks. And while one week of data is certainly not enough to begin drawing conclusions, it could be enough to gather a few hints as to which way the market is starting to lean.
For an in-depth look at where the real estate market currently finds itself in the time of COVID-19, including further insights from Pasalis, Don Kottick, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC, and many others, you can check out our Real Estate of the Union.
