August 20, 2020 by Sean MacKay
According to the most recent analysis on Toronto home sales, RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue wrote that strong low-rise home sales in the city’s 905 suburban area “supports the notion the pandemic is driving more buyers to the suburbs.†Suburban areas of the GTA have recovered much faster than the city itself through the summer.
The apparent shift in homebuyer interest to the suburbs is likely just another example of the pandemic accelerating an existing trend rather than giving rise to a new one, according to the researchers from Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research (CUR).
“This recent shift in the volume of sales to the 905 area is not unexpected. In a 2017 CUR study of Millennials, we found that most Millennials surveyed expressed a preference for ground-related homes, which are more affordable and abundant in the 905 area than in Toronto,†CUR researchers Frank Clayton and Daniel Bailey wrote.
This long-term trend has also been playing out in the new home market, the researchers wrote.
“There has been a pronounced shift in GTA [new home] sales to the 905 area in the first two quarters of 2020 relative to a year ago. In the second quarter, nearly three out of four GTA sales were for [new] homes located in the 905 area,†they wrote.
Clayton and Bailey also argued that this this homebuying preference shift predates the pandemic.
What does this mean?
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