The Toronto market continued to rebound in May. Sales transactions increased for the first time on a monthly basis with 23% more transactions in May 2023 compared to May 2022. Prices are slightly down from a year ago, but month-on-month sales have increased since the beginning of the year. The average price of $1,197,021 in May 2023 was 21% higher than January 2023’s average price of $987,842.
Although interest rates increased significantly, (Bank of Canada overnight interest rate increased from 0.25% in January 2022 to 4.75% last week), prices remain resilient.
Demand has been strong as immigration targets increased. Much of this activity is brought on as buyers that were on the sidelines re-entered the market after seeing prices bottom out in Q1. This renewed activity has brought down the length of time it takes to sell from 31 days in January 2023 to 16 days in May 2023 with months of inventory dropping from 3.5 months to 1.5 months.
Meanwhile, supply remains tight. Despite the increase in sales activity, on a year-to-date basis (January to May) new listings in 2023 were down 17% compared to 2022 and 10% less than the 2019-2023 five year average.
With last week’s interest rate increase as we near the end of the spring market, I expect the market to move from a seller’s market into a balanced market.
Shen Shoots the Breeze
Some of you may recall the December 2020 newsletter regarding opening of Tabitha House. It has now been operating for 2.5 years.
We had overwhelming support for this home when we first shared about this project with friends, neighbours and our church family. God provided volunteers with a passion to love and serve the staff and residents at Tabitha House as well as finances by way of generous donations in money and supplies that has sustained the home.
Let me share with you a brief update. There are 3 women currently living at Tabitha House (which is the capacity of the home) but these are not the original women that lived at Tabitha House when it first opened. There have been 10 women who have called Tabitha House home. All of these women were between the ages of 17-24 years old, had experienced homelessness and were living in shelters. Their average stay has been about 1 year – some stayed a little more and some a little less. Some have gone on to continue with their schooling and graduated, while others have found work.
We have not had the level of volunteer engagement which we initially hoped for. The pandemic hindered the momentum due to Public Health measures. Despite much planning for various programs and events, they did not come to fruition in the way we had hoped. Although there are still willing volunteers, there is now a lack of human resources to help train, onboard and surface appropriate volunteer opportunities for Tabitha House and the other homes that LOFT operates. Unfortunately, for many non-profit community service providers, budgets are smaller post-pandemic and many are only able to retain essential staff.
We are now looking to raise $70,000 to cover Tabitha House’s operations to the end-2025. LOFT currently receives some subsidies from the City of Toronto which covers staff wages and part of the rent but the $35,000/annum needed covers the rest: rent, utilities, maintenance and supplies. Would you consider making a donation for this home and the women who live there? You can do so here: https://www.gracetoronto.ca/tabitha-house
Scroll to the bottom to the Donate Now button. This will bring you to the LOFT giving page. You can direct your gift to Tabitha House in the scroll down menu.
I appreciate your interest and your desire to help in this way. Please contact me should you have any questions on this home.