Toronto housing market posts steady growth in first quarter of 2013

Market moving into a leveling-off period after consecutive years of strong price appreciation 

TORONTO, April 4, 2013 /CNW/ - The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed healthy year-over-year price gains for all housing types surveyed in Toronto, but signals point to more modest growth in prices for the year ahead.

Standard two-storey homes and detached bungalows both posted healthy year-over-year price increases, rising 4.0 per cent to $671,252 and 3.9 per cent to $565,700, respectively. Standard condominiums witnessed a smaller increase of 1.8 per cent to $359,671, compared to the same period last year.

"After a number of years of strong price appreciation, the Toronto real estate market is expected to show modest price increases in 2013," said Gino Romanese, Senior Vice President, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. "In the first quarter we saw a slight decrease in volume, even among first-time home buyers, who are traditionally the most active group in the market—although we are already seeing signs of increased activity as we move into spring."

According to Romanese, the market experienced a slight disconnect at the end of 2012 and in the early part of 2013 as a result of buyers hoping to get into the market at lower prices, while sellers remained willing to stay on the sidelines to wait for the prices they wanted.  However, as Toronto enters the spring buying season, prices are remaining intact and buyers are now opting to get on with their real estate decisions.

"Despite a brief discrepancy in buyer and seller expectations, multiple offer situations and bidding wars are still taking place in many areas of the city," said Romanese. "If you have the right product in the right location, people are lining up for it."

Nationally, house prices remained relatively flat in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012, recording that the average price of a home in Canada increased between 1.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2013, the national average price of a standard two-storey home increased 2.2 per cent, compared to the previous year. Over the same period, the national average price of a detached bungalow increased 2.4 per cent and the average price of a standard condominium increased 1.2 per cent.

"2013 finds the Canadian housing industry in a highly unusual place. The combination of very low mortgage rates and flat home prices, against a background of general economic improvement across the nation, is not something we've seen before," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. "Typically one of these variables is moving hard in an opposite direction. While some have spoken loudly about impending market volatility and dramatic downward pressure on home prices, we are simply not seeing evidence of this. The current environment is very supportive for housing. Those waiting for big declines in home prices will likely be disappointed."

About the Royal LePage House Price Survey

The Royal LePage House Price Survey is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind in Canada, with information on seven types of housing in over 250 neighbourhoods from coast to coast. This release references an abbreviated version of the survey which highlights house price trends for the three most common types of housing in Canada in 90 communities across the country. A complete database of past and present surveys is available on the Royal LePage website at www.royallepage.ca. Current figures will be updated following the complete tabulation of the data for the first quarter of 2013. A printable version of the first quarter 2013 survey will be available online on May 3, 2013. Housing values in the Royal LePage House Price Survey are Royal LePage opinions of fair market value in each location, based on local data and market knowledge provided by Royal LePage residential real estate experts. 

About Royal LePage

Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country's leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's and children's shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbolTSX:BRE.

For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca.

SOURCE: Royal LePage Real Estate Services

Gwen McGuire
Kaiser Lachance Communications
416-725-2520
[email protected]

Tammy Gilmer
Director, Global Communications & Public Relations
Royal LePage Real Estate Services
416-510-5783