I like many Canadian families… celebrated Easter last weekend!

The majority of my family in Canada lives in Toronto… so being the only real estate agent in the family I often times get questions like.. “Hey Steve, hows the market?!”

When I get this question I scratch my head a little..

I always respond with “well, how much time do you have?.”

This is not a question where you will get a one sentence answer from me… and it seems like thats what most people want!

So of course.. this question sprung up at Easter lunch while I had a mouth full of food..

So I dove into it!

My family lives a little scattered throughout the GTA so everyone has different perspectives! Which makes it interesting..

But the big debate was about values increasing in certain pockets and decreasing significantly in others..

I trade predominently in the Downtown market as its where I live.. work.. socialize and spend my free time.. so my view may be a little skewed due to this.

Im seeing freehold prices stay stagnant (for the time being) and condo prices continue to run away.

We are in an interesting time right now as April 2017 was in frenzy mode…. the stats keep hitting the news and the YOY (year over year) numbers are not good… They are down across the board… except downtown condos which have actually appreciated significantly depending product and location.

So…

The question I find myself asking is… Is the end near for the condo market?

Well… looking at this from a logical standpoint… the answer is NO.

Here’s why…

Over the last year weve faced the following…

-Foreign investors tax
-Mortgage stress test
-Higher interest rates

The only thing which will stall the condo market is when prices hit a ceiling where you can buy a 1 bedroom condo for the same price as a freehold 2 bedroom HOUSE…

Although we are a ways off… we are on track to hit this ceiling, which will then push the attention back to freehold and shift the market once again.

Buy freehold now while you can my friends….. You’ll thank me later!