The Toronto Real Estate Board says the ”psychological” effects of the province’s fair housing strategy contributed to an 18% drop in home sales in 2017.
(Mark Blinch/Reuters)
Looking at the new year, TREB says new factors, including borrowing ”stress tests” and higher interest rates could slow down the market.
TREB’s Jason Mercer says those factors may act as ”at least a bit of a drag on home sales.”
He estimates it’ll take a few months for the market to reset, but once it does, prices will likely return to single digit year-over-year increases.
”We’ll see a slower start to the year relative to what we saw in 2017, but we should see things start to pick up in terms of demand as we move through the second half,” Mercer added.
The Toronto Real Estate Board also says condos will likely see the strongest growth in price and detached homes will be relatively slower.