The New Buyer’s Market, and Hamilton Gets $4 Billion to Build New Homes

This week’s top real estate stories.

By  Jared Lindzon | 2 minute read

Every Friday, Wahi brings you the most important real estate stories from the past week.

It’s Officially a Buyer’s Market  

Like Sam and Diane, Ross and Rachel, Jim and Pam, Canada’s will-they-won’t-they relationship with a buyer’s market has officially traversed beyond the friend zone. Despite flirting with a changing market dynamic for the better part of the last two years experts agree that September’s real estate figures established a new relationship status. The new buyer’s market means an end to regular bully offers, bidding wars and the waving of home inspections. While listings are up and bids are down across the country, however, high borrowing costs have made many potential buyers hesitant to put themselves out there. 

Making a Federal Case of The Greenbelt Scandal  

The RCMP announced this week it was launching a criminal investigation into the Ontario Premiere’s attempt to open the protected land to connected developers. In recent months, the $8.3 billion scandal resulted in two scathing reports, four resignations, a cabinet shuffle, and a political firestorm. While the federal law enforcement agency offered few details, it’s worth noting that the case is with the O Division’s Sensitive and International Investigations unit, which investigates elected officials accused of fraud, financial crimes, corruption, and breach of trust.   

Report Says Home Sale Prices Bid Below Asking in Most GTA Neighbourhoods

Just a few months ago bidding below asking on a home in the Greater Toronto Area was a quick path to disappointment; now it appears to be the norm. According to Wahi’s latest report,  roughly three-quarters of the GTA’s 245 neighbourhoods are seeing more homes sold at or below asking than above. According to the data, the region’s most expensive neighbourhoods — including Oakville, Lawrence Park, and Markham’s Cachet neighbourhood — are seeing more homes sold below asking. Meanwhile, some of the GTA’s more affordable pockets — including Little Portugal, Bathurst Park, and Marham’s Milliken Mille West — are seeing overbidding by double-digit percentages.  

Surveying the Damage After a Wild Housing Party  

After a wild couple of years, the housing party is over in the GTA and the hangover is setting in. Like any great party, the host woke up to discover it’s got less money and more people crashing than expected. After years of low interest rates and excessive investor activity, Toronto now has 8,000 short-term rentals listed on sites like AirBnB, according to Toronto’s open data portal, with 10 downtown condos accommodating over 50 each. The city’s financial challenges have only gotten worse since revenues from land transfer fees dropped 40% in one year, leaving it $65 million short.

Hamilton’s Housing Effort Gets a Major Boost from the Feds 

Hamilton’s home building efforts just received a powerup from the federal government. This week the Housing Accelerator Fund — a $4 billion federal housing initiative tasked with speeding up the development of 100,000 new homes by 2027 — cut its largest check to date, made out to the city of Hamilton. The $93.5 million investment will fast-track the creation of over 2,600 units in the next three years, and 9,000 over the next decade. This marks the Fund’s third and largest investment to date, following a $74 million agreement with London in September and a $59 million deal with Vaughan last week.

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