By Michael McCann
This winter was not kind to Birch Cliff residents and February continued to hammer us with back-breaking snowfalls and bone chilling temperatures. Whether chipping at ice or shoveling our driveways, collectively we are all ecstatic to see the end of a brutal winter.
However for many home buyers, the weather did not deter them from their quest to find a home.
Our February housing market kept pace with January, with homes well priced and showing well seeming to attract multiple offers. It was a very frustrating process for buyers with one happy buyer taking the night while others once again walked away defeated.
What are my thoughts regarding our upcoming spring Birch Cliff resale housing market?
Well, buyer demand will continued to be fueled by low interest rates, as a couple of the major Canadian lenders are offering a fixed 5 year mortgage at 2.99%.
A couple of my buyers who have had their 90 day lending pre-approval expire, are finding their lender still offering some exceptionally good rates.
Buyers, who’ve been in a couple of multiple offer situations and lost, have come to the realization they are going to significantly improve their offering price if they expect to be successful in this competitive housing market.
Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in Feb. 2014 – 23 homes sold
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board. Excludes commercial properties, condos and vacant land.
Birchcliff/Cliffside
- February 2013 we had 24 homes sold while February of this year 23 homes changed hands – so let’s call this a statistical tie.
- February of 2013 the average sold price was $713,292 while February 2014 the average sold price came in at $596,638 – a decrease of 20% *I will address statistical drop later
- February 2013 it took on average 23 days to sell a home and in February 2014 homes in Birch Cliff were selling at the lightning fast pace of 11 days.
Toronto Real Estate Board
- 5,613 sales in February 2013 with February 2014 showing 5,731 sales – up 2.1%
- $509,396 average selling price February 2013 with February 2014 coming in at $553,193 – up by 8.6%
- February 2013 it took an average of 28 days to sell a home where February of this year 26 days – down 7.1%
*Back to the 20% decrease in the average sold price in Birch Cliff.
Now a 20% drop in February housing prices year over year is not the appearance of the dreaded housing bubble – one which Garth Turner has been predicting every year for the last 10 years.
When you start digging into the numbers what comes into play for February 2013 are two key housing metrics that skew the average month price higher than in 2014.
In 2013, four of 23 homes sold were between $1.2 – $1.5 million while in 2014 only one house sold in that same range. The second metric being that 1/3 of homes sold in February 2013 were under $500,000 while in 2014 half were under $500,000.
In weighing out the two metrics you come up with an average sold price of $645,000 for February 2013 and $626,000 in 2014. Not to worry, a one month drop in average house prices is not the start of a trend, but simply a statistical anomaly.
For a look at local real estate statistics over the last six months, click on the tabs.
[tabs slidertype=”top tabs”] [tabcontainer] [tabtext]January[/tabtext] [tabtext]December[/tabtext] [tabtext]November[/tabtext] [tabtext]October[/tabtext] [tabtext]September[/tabtext] [tabtext]August[/tabtext] [/tabcontainer] [tabcontent] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in January 2014 – 15 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in December 2013 – 17 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in November 2013 – 30 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birchcliff – Cliffside Home Sales in October 2013 – 32 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in September 2013 – 28 homes sold [/tab] [tab]Birch Cliff – Cliffside Home Sales in August 2013 – 28 homes sold [/tab] [/tabcontent] [/tabs]
According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, our local housing market is defined as Birch Cliff/Cliffside and the boundaries can be seen below.
View Birch Cliff / Cliffside in a larger map
