, Ontario homebuyers and owners have spent the last two and a half years on a rollercoaster.lends new insight into the trends and behaviours seen in Ontario’s real estate market pre-, during, and post- COVID-19.
“These indicators all confirm that the slowdown in the housing market has commenced as widely cited and will likely continue into the new year,” the report noted.When looking at home purchase volumes by buyer segment, the data shows a fairly even allocation across first-time buyers, multi-property owners, and other buyers, such as those moving to Ontario from abroad.
The report found that the mover segment of buyers — those moving from one sole property in Ontario to another — consistently paid the most for their home purchases. The gap in average transfer value between movers and first-time homebuyers sat at roughly $140K in 2019; it peaked at $430K in Q2 2022, but has since fallen to $205K as of Q4 2022.
However, the faction of Ontarians leaving urban areas remains a “small segment of the overall market,” the report noted, adding that despite pandemic restrictions lifting and people returning to the office, there has not been an uptick in people returning to cities.