Housing plan to drive listings spike

And other highlights from the latest Toronto housing report

Housing plan to drive listings spike
A high number of home owners in the Greater Toronto Area say they are likely to list their house for sale over the next year.

According to a Toronto Real Estate Board, a total of 30% of current owners are either “very likely” (12%) or “somewhat likely” (18%) to list their house over the next 12 months.

Of those planning to potentially list their homes, 15% cited Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan as the primary reason for selling in the next year.

That doesn’t mean there will be an excess of listings, according to TREB.

“The Ipsos survey results suggest that many households plan to list their home for sale over the next year. We have certainly reported an increase in listings,” Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, said. “However, it is interesting to note that almost 80 per cent of these households will be purchasing another home. This means that these households are not exiting the home ownership market, but, instead, changing the type or location of home they will own.”

The survey also found potential first-time homebuyers are pumping the brakes on their home search. The May survey found 40% of likely buyers would be first-timers – that was down from 53% in the fall survey.

“It makes sense that some first-time buyers have decided to at least temporarily put their decision to purchase a home on hold,” Mercer said. “First-time buyers are more flexible, and can take a wait and see approach. They could also re-enter the market quickly once they make the decision to purchase.”

Despite the recent dip in sales, TREB remains confident the market will rebound.

“While we have certainly experienced a dip in sales and an increase in listings over the past two months, the Ipsos survey results suggest that there are still many consumers considering the purchase of a home over the next year,” TREB President Larry Cerqua said. This could reflect the fact that new policies, like those contained in the Ontario Fair Housing Plan, can have an initial psychological impact before long-term impacts become clear.”

Still, the survey found 10% of households said they don’t plan on buying due to the Fair Housing Plan.