Month: October 2020

Who ever thought you’d see the day that the City of Toronto actually experiences a decline in their real estate listings? For condo and rent prices, especially in the downtown core, Canada’s largest condo market has seen a decline due to the COVID-19 global pandemic while the suburbs saw an increase in buyers and bidding wars. 

Since COVID-19 put the city on lockdown, immigration numbers have been low, the need for Airbnb has declined, and students haven’t been returning to university. This has lessened the demand for downtown short-term or even long-term housing needs, causing investors questioning whether or not it’s a good time to sell. In a recent report from Toronto Rentals, rental prices in August were down $200-$400 on average compared to this time last year. In fact, the prices reached their lowest in August since January of 2019. This doesn’t take away from the fact there is growth in certain areas though, like Etobicoke, North York and Mississauga. This could partly be because people who are working from home are looking for a place with a larger office space in their unit as opposed to the smaller downtown units that can’t accommodate that as comfortably.

Will this trend continue? 

According to Urbanation, a real estate research firm, this pattern could definitely continue into 2021 and as more newly built projects become available, there could be more than 20,000 available online by the end of this year.

Another reason people are fleeing from the downtown core and condo market to the suburbs?

The Bank of Canada has slashed their interest rates to historic lows, so families are able to upgrade. They stated, “The Bank is playing an important complementary role in this effort. Its interest rate setting cushions the impact of the shocks by easing the cost of borrowing. Its efforts to maintain the functioning of the financial system are helping keep credit available to people and companies. The intent of our decision today is to support the financial system in its central role of providing credit in the economy, and to lay the foundation for the economy’s return to normalcy.”

Earlier this year, Premier Doug Ford, announced that new measures will be taken to help residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, a ban on evictions was put in place. He said he “doesn’t want Ontario residents to worry about how they’re going to pay for rent this month” and that he wants to make sure that families can stay in their homes during this difficult time without having to worry. However, this ban was lifted as of August 1. A standard eviction for non-payment can take a minimum of 75 days. What will this mean for future reports due to financial hardships and landlords evicting their non-paying tenants especially with unemployment rates hitting a record in May? 

Only time will tell, especially as the economy takes its time to open back up again. 

While some Toronto markets are certainly on fire amidst the pandemic, this isn’t the case for condo and rental prices and they’ll likely continue to decline until more people are able to go to work, and immigrants and university students call the downtown hub their home again. 

Are you looking to invest in property? If you like, we can get one of our mortgage experts to tell you exactly how much you can afford to borrow, which is the best mortgage for you or how much they could save you right now if you have an existing mortgage. Click here to get help choosing the best mortgage rate

While open houses were allowed to resume in mid-July, the COVID-19 second wave had a different opinion. Making another appearance and causing numbers to soar again, the Ontario Government announced that as of Saturday, October 17, COVID-19 hotspots will be subject to appointment-only property showings for the next 28 days. Virtual means are to be highly considered instead as the situation continues to be reassessed on a regular basis.

Initially, open houses were shut down back in April mainly due to the urgent requests by the Ontario Real Estate Associate (OREA) when they called on the province to stop open houses and utilize virtual tools instead. President of OREA, Sean Morrison, said, “Back in April, OREA called on the province to stop open houses during the first wave of the pandemic. I am proud that our association was the first to recommend a stop to all in-person business, including open houses – advice that the province later put into law as part of the State of Emergency.”  

He continued, “As we enter this second wave, we are once again asking the government to ban open houses province-wide until the pandemic becomes more manageable.”

It seems like their plea worked as strict rules were put in place in Ottawa, Toronto, Peel and now York Region, which was added to the list on Monday, October 19. This second-wave shutdown comes after Toronto had experienced record-breaking real estate numbers in September. Back in April, any in-person meetings were completely prohibited, whereas now, meetings can still resume but by appointment only, so seeing a decrease in the regions’ real estate trends is unlikely. And, as Morrison said, he isn’t expecting that kind of lockdown again, but just wants the members of OREA to do the right thing and keep everyone involved as safe as possible. With high-quality virtual tools, real estate transactions can still continue to run smoothly. 

It’s important you familiarize yourself with the new stage two restrictions laid out by the Ontario Government which include:

• Reducing limits for all social gatherings and organized public events to a maximum of 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors where physical distancing can be maintained. The two limits may not be combined for an indoor-outdoor event;
• Prohibiting indoor food and drink service in restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments, including nightclubs and food court areas in malls;

Closing of:

• Indoor gyms and fitness centres (i.e., exercise classes and weight and exercise rooms);
• Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments;
• Indoor cinemas, performing arts centres and venues, (except for rehearsing or performing a recorded or broadcasted performance subject to conditions, including no spectators);
• Spectator areas in racing venues;
• Interactive exhibits or exhibits with high risk of personal contact in museums, galleries, zoos, science centres, landmarks, etc.;
• Prohibiting personal care services where face coverings must be removed for the service (e.g. makeup application, beard trimming);
• Prohibiting real estate open houses (permitting in-person showing by appointments only)
• Reducing the capacity limits for:
• Tour and guide services to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors
• In-person teaching and instruction (e.g. cooking class) to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors, with certain exemptions, including for schools, universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, private career colleges, the Ontario Police College, etc.
• Meeting and event spaces to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors with limited exemptions, including for government operations and the delivery of government services; and
• Limiting team sports to training sessions (no games or scrimmages)  

And, make sure you abide by these protective measures to keep everyone safe:

• Stay home when you are sick
• Keep a two-metre/six-foot distance from people you don’t live with, when possible
• Wash your hands often, and avoid touching your face with unwashed hands
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow
• Wear a mask or face covering when you are in indoor public spaces, as per the City bylaw, and when you cannot maintain a two-metre/six-foot distance outdoors
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces 

Are you looking to invest in property? If you like, we can get one of our mortgage experts to tell you exactly how much you can afford to borrow, which is the best mortgage for you or how much they could save you right now if you have an existing mortgage. Click here to get help choosing the best mortgage rate