Are we in a Buyer’s market or a Seller’s market?
Most people just guess, but there is a more accurate measure. It’s called the Sales-to-New Listings ratio. You take the number of sales over a period of time, usually a month, and divide it by the number of new listings for the same period. That is a flow to flow concept.
Most experts agree that the range for a balanced market is in the 40%-60% range. Under 40 percent represents a Buyer’s Market, and over 60 percent is a Seller’s Market.
In the GTA, the current ratio is 51 percent. Last year at this time it was 47 percent. The size of this market is too big to help individual buyers and sellers.
Historically May or June is the biggest sales month of the year. New listings were also up in April by 8 percent over last year – an indication of both increasing sales and prices for May.
But the GTA market is made up of many sub markets – each with a different sale and price pattern. Condo sales were 7 percent higher in April from a year ago. Most of the sales increase was in the 905 area (Mississauga, Vaughan, Oakville) – 17 percent vs. only 2 percent in the main Toronto core. The strongest market segment last year was Toronto condos. But in terms of price increases, year over year, Toronto condos recorded the second highest gains of all GTA markets (including detached houses) at 7 percent. Only condos in Peel (Mississauga, Brampton), at 10 percent were greater.
-with files from Remax Condos Plus
