The past decade has been one of the best on record for residential real estate in the Toronto area.
While the question remains whether the next decade will even come close, historically, home buyers have never had such a prolonged period of rising home prices, according to a study released yesterday by ReMax.
Prices of resale homes from 1997 to 2007 increased by 78 per cent for a 5.9 per cent compounded annual rate of return, according to the real estate firm. Unit sales were also 61 per cent higher in 2007 over 1997.
“The Canadian real estate market has surprised a lot of people, especially given the challenges we’ve faced from a high-tech meltdown, the 9/11 crisis, SARS and a credit crunch south of the border,” says ReMax spokeperson Christine Martysiewicz. “Over the past 10 years, real estate has shown incredible resilience.”
The run-up in prices is the longest sustained increase in house prices in recent history, the realtor says.
The average price of a home sold in Toronto in 1997 was $211,307. That has risen steadily every year, reaching $376,236 at the end of 2007.
