“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” – Aristotle

December… who’s chilly?! We are!! This quote by Aristotle definitely spoke to us, this month. Especially during a day like today where there is no snow on the ground but a good amount of wind chill. We’ve definitely had picturesque snowy days this month, but we’re waiting for more. Think of those days where you’re all bundled up, snow is on the ground, snowflakes are falling and that perfectly unique snowflake falls onto your glove – that’s what this quote perfectly captures.

While December 21st is the official mark of the ‘Winter” season, the first snowfall seems to signal the beginning of Winter far more. Historically, we’ve watched the market slow down as Fall comes to a close and the Winter season begins. 

As of Tuesday December 7th, 2021, 80.84% of the total Canadian population has received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and 76.14% of the total Canadian population are fully vaccinated. That’s more than 62,227,330 doses administered & 71,737,412 doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines delivered across Canada.

There has been some development in the “…plan to safely reopen Ontario and manage COVID-19 for the long-term.” Although, maybe not what some had hoped for. While the original plan was to lift capacity limits in remaining settings, there is an official “pause” as of November 15th. There is a pause on the lifting of capacity limits in remaining higher-risk settings out of an abundance of caution as the province monitors public health trends. These higher-risk settings include: food/drink establishments with dance facilities such as night clubs, wedding receptions in meeting/event spaces where there is dancing, strip clubs, sex clubs & bathhouses. As. the next 28 days progress, the government and the Chief Medical Officer of Health will continue to monitor the data and will determine when it is safe to lift capacity limits in these settings. 

And that’s what you missed on… Reopening Ontario… or rather, Pause Ontario!

Now, on to real estate! This month, we saw an interesting increase in total condo sales month over month and an expected decrease in condo sales year over year. Let’s delve into the numbers for our Liberty Village condo market in November and let them do the talking.

How Many Condos Sold in Liberty Village In November?

November 2021 saw a total of 38 condo sales in Liberty Village. In comparison, October 2021 saw a total of 34 condo sales. A 11.76% increase – surprising, yet exciting!! It really is unusual for a month like November to be busier than October. Historically, and as mentioned previously, the progression of the Fall market, historically, shows a slow down in the real estate market. Interestingly enough, 2021 has been the strongest month for November since 2018, where there were 39 total condo sales. What does this mean? It means we have a very strong condo market, with 11.76% more buyers confident enough to make their biggest lifetime purchase when compared to October 2021.

When looking at condo sales year over year, November 2020 had 45 sales. Interesting!! A 15.56% decrease in condo sales year over year. While we can still appreciate November 2021 as being an uncharacteristically busy month for an end of Fall/beginning of Winter real estate market, November 2020 was even more bonkers. When we put this into perspective, the decrease isn’t as surprising.

To sum it up, condo sales in November increased month over month and decreased year over year and the number of buyers confident enough to make their biggest lifetime purchase was still a healthy number for a late Fall/early Winter market. Let’s not forget- and you’re probably sick of hearing it at this point- this is all despite being almost 2 years into a global pandemic.

Sales volume tells us part of the story. Let’s look at prices. Did values increase, remain the same or decrease from November 2020 to November 2021? Let’s take a look at the average sale price for all types of condo sales year over year.