Liberty Village Condo Sales April 2023
It’s May! Now, we’ve had to go through quite a few rainy days in order to get to this beautiful sunny weather today on May 8th. Has it been extra rainy this Spring or is it just me? May we have only sunny days, from here on out, for the remainder of Spring – did you see what I did there? Alright, enough of the lame jokes. Let’s talk real estate!
This month, we saw a decrease in condo sales year over year and month over month. For sales volume, we saw a decrease year over year and an increase month over month. Let’s delve into the numbers for our Liberty Village condo market in April and let them do the talking.
How Many Condos Sold in Liberty Village In April?
April 2023 saw a total of 24 condo sales in Liberty Village. In comparison, April 2022 saw a total of 41 condo sales- a 41.46% decrease. If you read the last couple month’s blog post, you’ll know exactly why this is. If we look at the interest rates in April 2022 vs March 2023, we’ll see that the Bank of Canada had an overnight lending rate of 1% in April 2022. April 2023 had an overnight lending rate of 4.5%. This is a massive 3.5% increase in interest rates year over year. Now, you can understand why condo sales dropped by almost 42% year over year – purchasing power is substantially less when interest rates are 3.5% higher year over year.
Month Over Month Changes
When looking at condo sales month over month, March 2023 had 40 sales. That’s a 40% decrease in condo sales month over month. Last month, from February to March 2023, we saw that there was a 60% increase month over month. One way we explained this was peak seasons in real estate. Sometimes, we find that when demand surges one month, it adjusts the next month. Meaning, when demand puts pressure on prices, it creates a less accessible market to a lot of buyers. An increase in demand can also discourage buyers from entering the real estate market, because they might not be up for the competition, multiple offer situations and increase in prices. Regardless, we still know that the overnight lending rate is holding steady at 4%, so it may be that interest rates still need to adjust in order to continue this train of what folks are calling this “buyer’s market”. It’ll be interesting to look at how prices were affected this month, with the demand being 40% lower, month over month.
To sum it up, condo sales in April decreased year over year and month over month and the number of buyers confident enough to make their biggest lifetime purchase was much smaller than March 2023 – we explained our thought process above, but would love to hear your thoughts the comments below!
Mortgage Rate Forecast Canada 2023-2024
Now, looking forward, what are the experts predicting? Perch predicts the following:
- Expectations that rate hikes are done for the remainder of the year look all but certain at this point.
- Fixed rates will lower in April, with variable rates remaining steady.
- When interest rates eventually come down again it’s likely the increased demand will bring the housing market back to where it was pre-2022.
The current market overnight interest rate forecast for the next 12 months is:
- No change June 7, 2023
- No change July 12, 2023
- No change September 6, 2023
- A 0.25% decrease October 25, 2023
- No change December 6th, 2023
Condo Prices
Sales volume tells us part of the story. Let’s look at prices. Did values increase, remain the same or decrease from April 2022 to April 2023? Let’s take a look at the average sale price for all types of condo sales year over year.
The average sale price in April 2023 was $745,538 on the 24 sales. The average sale price for the sales in April 2022 was $805,592 on the 41 sales. A 7.45% year over year decrease in sale prices. This means that buyers, this year, got a 7.45% better deal than buyers last year. Like we said earlier in the blog post, purchase price savings (especially this month) were not and have not been enough for the market to bounce back to 2022 levels. We have to look at the full picture, and this full picture includes interest rates. We’re going to sound like a broken record, but if interest rates are 3.5% higher than they were last year, 7.45% lower sale prices aren’t going to cut it.
The average sale price in April 2023 was $745,538 on the 24 sales. The average sale price for the sales in April 2022 was $805,592 on the 41 sales. A 7.45% year over year decrease in sale prices. This means that buyers, this year, got a 7.45% better deal than buyers last year. Like we said earlier in the blog post, purchase price savings (especially this month) were not and have not been enough for the market to bounce back to 2022 levels. We have to look at the full picture, and this full picture includes interest rates. We’re going to sound like a broken record, but if interest rates are 3.5% higher than they were last year, 7.45% lower sale prices aren’t going to cut it.
Now, what about sales pricing month-over-month? The average sale price in March 2023 was $731,617 on the 40 sales. A 1.9% month over month increase in sales price. We had an increase last month, but this is an even bigger (although, still relatively minor) increase. We mentioned that as we’d get deeper into Spring, we’d see prices increase and transactions increase, but what we didn’t mention is, that as prices increases, accessibility into the market becomes more difficult. If the barrier to enter the market is higher, then we’ll see an effect on demand. Like we said last month, we’re not going to see a crazy huge increase in month over month prices, until (and if) interest rates take a much deeper plunge.
The Liberty Village condo market for the fourth month of 2023 is slowly and steadily increasing in price (month over month). Unlike last month, this month, we saw a decrease in transactions. We predicted last month that April stats would show a slight price increase, and we were right. Interestingly enough, we saw a quick adjustment in demand, with prices raising. Did we or did we not not tell you this year would be a rollercoaster ride? Buckle in, prices might have gone higher, but demand has lowered, so up and down we go! What are your predictions for the remainder of the Spring and early Summer? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious how April 2023 differed from the year before? Take a look back at our post for the Liberty Village condo stats in April 2022.
If you have any specific questions about the market or are curious as to how this relates to your Liberty Village condo, get in touch. You can fill out our Condo Value Form or send us an email.
