Most Canadians I believe are wondering when economic slowdown in the U.S. will hit Canada in earnest. Well, the Toronto Star published the above results today about auto sales in the two countries, and generally in Canada sales are mixed but overall holding their own, while in the U.S. they are down across the board for all car companies.
This mirrors the real estate situation, somewhat at least, in Toronto. Generally, homes are holding their value (down about 10% on average across Toronto according to the latest report from the Toronto Real Estate Board, but each area of the city is a micro-market and performs not necessarily the same as the average) but sold prices are still 97-98% of list, and are taking about 20 days on average to sell. These are far from doomsday numbers.
Of course, we are not sure what is ahead, but one thing is for sure, and that is if you are looking to buy real estate, now is the time to be shopping. Prices are not expected to drop significantly in Toronto like they already have in other areas of Canada (like Vancouver and Calgary, for example).
Real estate is now “ON SALE”, and just in time for the holidays!
George
Join our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter
Rate us on Google Maps
Connect over on LinkedIn
Hi George,
Are the woes of the domestic auto industry affecting your business in the Toronto area?
Thx
Mike Stewart
Hi Mike,
The auto industry slowdown is indirectly impacting Toronto. The industry is so large and reaches across so many sectors from a service perspective, people are just concerned in general. Outside of the Toronto the impact is deeper, especially in cities like Oshawa and Windsor where layoffs have already occurred.
But, having said that, people still need to move for various reasons, in any economy, so business is still brisk here. We are currently back to 2006 levels of sales, which was a very good year (the second highest on record in fact for Toronto – with 2007 being the peak).
How about Vancouver – how is the market?
George