The powerful rebound in the Greater Toronto Area market carries on with a full head of steam. Very strong demand continues to dominate, lifting sales of existing homes to all-time highs in recent months, yet keen buyer interest haslargely failed to attract more sellers, resulting in a dearth of homes available for sale. The properties that are put on the market, however, move fast, frequentlybeing the object of bidding wars. This has contributed to prices in the area generally reaching record-high levels.
The flipside of steeper prices is an attendant erosion of affordability. All RBC measures rose for the second-straight time in the fourth quarter of 2009 – up 0.1 percentage point for bungalows and townhouses, 0.2 percentage points for condominiums and 0.3 percentage points for two-storey homes. Affordability levels have now moved above long-term averages in the area – significantly so in the case of two-storey homes – confirmingthat stress is starting to build in the Toronto market.
Source: RBC Housing Trends & Affordability – March 2010
