Liberty Village Condo Sales December 2022
Happy New Year, LV Readers! We made it to 2023! Give yourself a pat on the back – the last few years have been hard ones. With this new year ahead of us, try not to focus on all the changes you NEED to make. Instead, this year, let’s change the notion that we need to change at all. We are perfect as we are and are all just doing our best. Alright, nobody came here for the positive self-talk… 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 both year over year and month over month. Let’s delve into the numbers for our Liberty Village condo market in December and let them do the talking.
How Many Condos Sold in Liberty Village In December?
December 2022 saw a total of 12 condo sales in Liberty Village. In comparison, December 2021 saw a total of 28 condo sales- a 57.14% decrease. A substantial decrease in condos sales year over year. Now, let’s look at why that may be. If we look at the interest rates in 2021 vs 2022, we’ll see that the Bank of Canada had an overnight lending rate of .25% in 2021. December 2022 had an overnight lending rate of 4.25%. This is an astounding 4% increase in interest rates year over year. It’s no surprise that sales dropped so significantly year over year, with this in mind.
Month Over Month Changes
When looking at condo sales month over month, November 2022 had 19 sales. That’s a 36.84% decrease in condo sales month over month. Now, we already touched a lot on this in the paragraph above, but interest rates rose in December. In November 2022, the interest rates were increased to 3.75% in October, but we didn’t see another rise until December 2022. It only makes sense that there would be another drop in condo sales when another interest rate hike occurred. We also have to take into account that the weather became cooler and December was the last month of 2022. It is typical for activity to fall when the weather becomes colder and the year comes to a close.
To sum it up, condo sales in December decreased year over year and month over month and the number of buyers confident enough to make their biggest lifetime purchase was a very small number. Although, this is what we expected, given the cooler weather, lack of demand, surplus in inventory and recent interest rates hike.
Condo Prices
Sales volume tells us part of the story. Let’s look at prices. Did values increase, remain the same or decrease from December 2021 to December 2022? Let’s take a look at the average sale price for all types of condo sales year over year.
The average sale price in December 2022 was $644,000 on the 12 sales. The average sale price for the sales in December 2021 was $778,738. A 17.3% year over year decrease in sale prices. Now, this is an interesting fixture. Why, you ask? Because, despite prices being down 17.3% year over year, condo transactions still decreased by 57.14%. It might seem logical that, if prices are lower, there would be a surge in transactions. Contrarily, we are seeing that the continuous interest rate hikes are making condo ownership unattainable. With the interest rates this high, prices don’t matter, because interest rates have an enormous impact on purchasing power. It will be interesting to see how much prices will have to adjust to make up for the interest rates. MyPerch.Io predicts that the Bank of Canada will raise its overnight rate by a further 25 basis points in the first meeting of 2023, although, some are forecasting that it will be the last of the rate hike cycle. What are your thoughts? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.
The average sale price in December 2022 was $644,000 on the 12 sales. The average sale price for the sales in December 2021 was $778,738. A 17.3% year over year decrease in sale prices. Now, this is an interesting fixture. Why, you ask? Because, despite prices being down 17.3% year over year, condo transactions still decreased by 57.14%. It might seem logical that, if prices are lower, there would be a surge in transactions. Contrarily, we are seeing that the continuous interest rate hikes are making condo ownership unattainable. With the interest rates this high, prices don’t matter, because interest rates have an enormous impact on purchasing power. It will be interesting to see how much prices will have to adjust to make up for the interest rates. MyPerch.Io predicts that the Bank of Canada will raise its overnight rate by a further 25 basis points in the first meeting of 2023, although, some are forecasting that it will be the last of the rate hike cycle. What are your thoughts? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.
Now, what about sales pricing month-over-month? The average sale price in November 2022 was $645,147 on the 19 sales. A 0.18% month over month decrease in sale price. While this decrease is next to nothing, it’s not really something we’ve seen month over month this year. To elaborate, we’ve seen significant month over month decreases in sale price, but rarely have we seen such a minor shift. It is common for the things to stay pretty consistent in the last months of the year – nobody is doing crazy things with the market. Most are settling down, wrapping up the year and looking into the new year.
The Liberty Village condo market for 2022 has proven to be a complete rollercoaster ride. We’ve seen lots of lows and some unexpected highs. Which month surprised you the most? Any predictions for the New Year? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious how December 2022 differed from the year before? Take a look back at our post for the Liberty Village condo stats in December 2021.
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.
