"The tide is beginning to turn” as investors and move-up buyers drive detached home sales, says Re/Max

financialpost.com:

In the first half of 2024, seasoned buyers and investors drove detached home purchases in Canada’s priciest markets, including the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver Area (GVA), and Fraser Valley, while first-time buyers were sidelined by affordability issues, according to a Re/Max Canada report.

“While affordability remains the top obstacle for first-time homebuyers, more experienced buyers and investors are taking advantage of softer housing values,” Re/Max President Christopher Alexander said in the Aug. 15 report. He noted that these buyers are making their moves ahead of the Bank of Canada’s end to quantitative tightening, positioning themselves for potential gains when the market fully rebounds.

TheRe/Max Hot Pocket Communities Report, which surveyed 83 markets across the GTA, GVA, and Fraser Valley, revealed that detached housing values increased in close to 40 per cent of these markets during the first half of 2024. Additionally, 30 per cent of markets reported a rise in the number of sales. This activity was particularly strong in the GTA’s 416 area code, where more than 34 per cent of neighbourhoods had stable or growing detached homebuying activity, outperforming the 905 region, Greater Vancouver, and Fraser Valley.

Toronto’s downtown and midtown areas remain hot spots for detached housing. Neighbourhoods such as Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, Trinity-Bellwoods, and Forest Hill South posted significant gains in home buying activity. Alexander emphasized the appeal of these areas, stating, “Vibrant downtown/midtown communities remain a perennial favourite with purchasers in Toronto, with buyers vying for detached properties in coveted blue-chip neighbourhoods.”

In contrast, Greater Vancouver and