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Lifestyle Real Estate

Some homes in the GTA real estate market cost almost 50 per cent more than a year ago

Detached homes on the Toronto real estate market cost on average $1.7 million

A new real estate calculator will estimate the cost of your home, which in Toronto is higher than ever.

Real estate website Properly built an online calculator that requires a sign up. The tool helps estimate the value of homes based on its specific features, proximity to services and recent realtor accessible data on selling prices in the same neighbourhood.

The tool is becoming available just as potential Toronto real estate buyers are facing steep prices.

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average selling price for a Toronto home in March was $1,083,322, which is up 10 per cent from the same time last year. That increase is mitigated by the Toronto condo market, which dominated March transactions (51 per cent) against detached, semi-detached and townhouse properties. The average cost for a condo in Toronto real estate market dropped a slight 0.7 per cent in value year-over-year to $707,835.

This time last year, Toronto real estate had been thrown for a curve with the first COVID-19 lockdown and buyers, sellers and realtors were adjusting to the new norm. However, anyone who bought a home at that time or the period before would be enjoying a rapid increase in value.

The average price for a home in the 905 was $1,104,509, which is a 29 per cent increase, year-over-year. That means from the start of this pandemic to now, buyers who purchased a home in the 905 averaged a $247,528 gain in property value. The average price for detached homes in Toronto were up 19.2 per cent to $1,750,519 in March.

According to calculations from Properly, people who bought in Oshawa prior to the pandemic had the most to gain.

Properly compared the median price of homes in various GTA suburbs in the six-month period prior to the pandemic to their most current “instant calculator” averages. They estimate that Oshawa home values leaped 48 per cent from $523,100 to $763,659. Though that accounting style is a bit funny. According to TRREB, Oshawa home prices went up 38 per cent year-over-year to average $779,325 in March.

Comparatively, the average price for a home in Innisfil gained 48 per cent year-over-year to $918,670.

Economists at Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal fear these prices are indicative of out-of-control speculation and a national housing bubble. They recommend the government add new measures to cool the market, such as stricter mortgage rules and additional taxes.

“Policies focused on demand, such as a capital gains tax on primary residences, can have a short-term impact, but can also be fraught with unintended consequences like further stifling the supply of listings,” say TRREB CEO CEO John DiMichele, representing the real estate business. “The federal minister responsible for the housing portfolio has said his government will not entertain such a policy option, which is the right decision. We have been saying for too long now that policymakers must focus on the long-term goal of increasing housing supply in order to accommodate current and future demand.”

@nowtoronto

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