Changes in mortgage lending rules, rising interest rates, and affordability are all driving a shift in focus for many homebuyers in Ontario and British Columbia’s hottest markets.
An analysis of 2018’s growth neighborhoods in the GTA, Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island, reveals that those that are seeing the fastest rise are not necessarily predictable.
The research from listings site Real Estate Wire (REW.ca) includes the neighbourhoods where house prices showed the most explosive growth, the average price per square foot across the provinces, the average days homes were on the market and more.
“We believe that the statistics show that Canadians are conflicted. On the one hand, prices are coming down in a number of markets and houses are staying on the market for longer periods of time,” says Ian Martin, Director of Industry Development and Partnerships, REW. “We can contribute most of that to last year’s introduction of the mortgage stress test, but there’s still a strong appetite for Vancouver’s and Toronto’s most desirable neighbourhoods.”
The hottest neighbourhoods
REW.ca’s most searched neighbourhood in Toronto in 2018 was Danforth, just to the east of the downtown core, shifting from the 2017 top-ranked Humber Heights, in the west of the city.
Meanwhile in Vancouver, the coastal community of Kitsilano replaced the eclectic Mt. Pleasant West neighbourhood for the top searched neighbourhood in 2018.
In both cities, three bedroom single-homes were the most desired property type.
