In Toronto, tightening of federal mortgage rules will not put a dent on the sales figures of Canada's biggest housing market, based on the expectations of The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).
According to Financial Post, TREB predicts that the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) would be able to set another record when it comes to sales this year or at least not be far behind last year's 101,299 all-time high transactions.
An Ipsos Reid survey, which Toronto realtors have pointed out to, shows that those buying for the first time would be a strong force in the years to come. The information was revealed at a conference on Monday.
Sean Simpson of Ipsos says, "In the GTA, there is not an affordability issue." His company found that 53 per cent of buyers in the Greater Toronto Area in 2015 were indeed first-time buyers. The same or more of it can be seen this year, the majority of buyers are expected to be between the age of 18 and 34.
Financial Review adds that way back in November, Ipsos also surveyed 2,500 homeowners, 1,000 of whom had purchased in the past year. It shows that it is a sample considered accurate to 2.2 and 3.5 percentage points, respectively.
"If there was an affordability issue, it would prevent people from buying," Simpson added.
The minimum downpayment is now at 10 percent from the original 5 for purchases amountint to $500,000 but it will have a little impact on the market, Toronto realtors says. It is mainly because in the last year, Ipsos Reid study found, that most buyers have planned to pay down payments payments between five per cent and 9.9 per cent, so it is something they will not complain about and would have little effect on most homebuyers.
Jason Mercer, director of market analysis for TREB, says, "This suggests that only a small percentage of intending buyers will be impacted by the mortgage lending guidelines changes announced by the federal government."
The prediction of sales figures this year is between 96,500 to 105,000 sales in 2016, with interest rates and enough supply playing major factors - "something restricted in 2015 as part of the long-term impact of provincial policy, which had restricted single-family homes," Financial Review continues.
TREB expects the average price to be between $655,000 to $665,000 across GTA but it may be impacted by foreign buyers, which my increase due to the volatile markets in China.
