The GTA Real Estate Market and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an overarching impact on the real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area. The real estate market is still experiencing a series of booms, with home sales up over 25% from last year, continuing the year-over-year growth evident since the pandemic hit.

At the rate it’s going, resale activity in the GTA is showing no sign of slowing down. And it’s not only record sales that are rising. Record listings across the region are proving that if you’re in the market to buy real estate – a lack of options will not be a problem. In fact, the condominium segment has experienced over double the listings it’s seen since the previous year. This means that if you’re in the market for a condo, you’re in luck. The pandemic accelerated the trends of 2020 of investors selling their properties.

There is strong competition between buyers of single-family homes and detached houses and home prices have been steadily inflating over the past few months – with the average selling prices for all kinds of homes rising.

The low borrowing costs have kept home purchasing top-of-mind for many. Meaning that now that you can borrow more for less, you can not only afford your property of choice, but can afford it at a better rate or even upgrade your property altogether.

In the coming year, things are looking optimistic for the market even beyond COVID-19, with the demand for housing continuing to be high. Over the next three years, immigration will experience an influx with over 1.2 million people coming in, to make up for the shortfall experience because of the pandemic and the GTA will surely benefit from this population growth and their housing demands.

Combine the availability of properties, with the low-interest rates and the boost in population, and you have a dream trifecta for the real estate market. People will come up, demand will increase, prices will go up and competition will be high.

The GTA real estate market is resilient and proved itself during the pandemic, and will prove itself even stronger once COVID-19 is done. Now is the time to take advantage of the factors in play and invest in properties that will elevate your living standards, investment portfolio and supplement your cash flow.