Following the record setting pace that residential real estate enjoyed in Markham throughout 2015, homeowners and home buyers alike couldn’t be blamed for wondering if the trend would continue into 2016.
Add to that questions about if and how new federal mortgage guidelines, which came into effect in mid-February, would affect the market and everyone’s looking for answers as to how 2016 will unfold.
2016 is Off to a Great Start
The January 2016 sales report issued by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), which covers all GTA real estate markets, including Markham, Richmond Hill and York Region, showed a continuation of the upward trends of last year.
In January, the average sale price for all homes in Markham rose 13.4%, compared to January, 2015, to $806,735. The total number of homes sold was up 36.5% to 258 units, and the number of new listings rose 8.6%, to 465. All of the numbers are indicators of a healthy real estate market.
The February 2016 TREB Report
Again, despite the good news in January, many market watchers were waiting to see if the new mortgage rules, which mean that buyers must put a 10% down payment on the portion of home purchase prices between $500,000 and $1,000,000, would have any effect on market trends.
You can judge for yourself how well the Markham real estate continues to perform as we approach the hot spring market. These numbers are a comparison of February, 2016, versus February, 2015.
– 6% – the increase in the average price for homes of all types (a new record high)
– 4% – the increase in the number of new listings
– 104% – the average selling price versus listing price (SP/LP). This means that, on average, home sellers got 4% more for their homes than what they asked. The SP/LP percentage for Markham is the highest in the GTA markets covered by the TREB report. A really good indicator of the value of Markham homes!
While they may not be as good as Markham’s numbers, the real estate figures across Toronto and the GTA show similar growth. Perhaps most importantly, the February TREB report says that “sales were up strongly from the 15th day of the month onward as well, despite the new federal mortgage lending guidelines.”
When you combine all the data above with recent TREB polling results that suggest 12% of GTA households are seriously considering the purchase of a home, it adds up to paint as good a picture as possible for the real estate market in Markham and across the GTA.