Forest Hill Houses For Sale

Posted by Smith Henry on January 16th, 2018

Forest Hill houses for sale are the upper-crust enclave for many established families and those wanting everything the city offers.

Along with the Bridle Path and Rosedale, Forest Hill real estate and its neighbourhood is considered one of the wealthiest and most affluent in Toronto.  It is home to many prominent Toronto business persons, doctors and lawyers.  Many of the stately mansions are not only gated but have large shrubbery walls to afford more privacy.

Unlike many neighbourhoods, Forest Hill real estate and the neighbourhood is broken up into a lower and upper section.  The northern boundary is considered Briar Hill Avenue and the southern boundary is consider Heath street.  Avenue Road is the Eastern most edge while Bathurst and Cedarvale Ravine are accepted as the western boundaries of the neighbourhood.  As with any boundary, there is always discussion of which neighbourhood fits within which boundary.

Currently there are over 10 Forest Hill houses for sale.  They range from a detached and a semi-detached at  2.349 million to a New York style brownstone asking 25 Million dollars.  All the homes are stately but not extravagant.  Many with comfortless size lots in the quiet residential streets that characterizes Forest Hill Real Estate.

Some would ask if these numbers reflect an actual selling price for  Forest Hill Real Estate.  It is important to know that all homes fall within a price range.  This range is determined by many factors.  Several factors include:  number of homes on the market at the time, condition of the home (new vs original), interest rates, world affairs, weather and time of year.

In the Toronto market and for Forest Hill homes for sale, many have lingered - often referred to as stale listings - over the late summer and fall.  Price ranges vary for time of year.  In 2017, there was a huge pent-up demand for homes so prices had accelerated over the first 6 months of the year.  Money was flying in and product was flying of the shelves in days vs weeks.  Over asking price sales were the norm not the exception.  This all began to shift in late July and August.  The Province of Ontario introduced a non-residents buyers tax of 15% of the sales price of a home, to anyone not currently a resident of Canada.  This applies to Canadian Citizens living abroad who have not resided in Canada for the last 18 months as well.  This put a stop to foreign moneys that had been flowing into the market from China and the Middle East, amongst several countries.  This created a slow-down in the market which has subsided somewhat. 

The market and some sellers have yet to adjust their expectations to this new market reality.  Homes that sold for 4 million in June and July, are likely worth somewhat less now.   Several buyers found they were unable to secure mortgages for these overpriced properties when they were ready to close their deals.

Two other aspects effecting prices are mortgage rates and the new Stress Test instituted by the Federal Government as of January 1st, 2018.  This stress test, in short, says everyone has to qualify at either the Bank of Canada 5-year fixed term rate or 2% points above the prime rate for any mortgage. There are a few exceptions but this change effected many buyers just getting into the market - aka First Time Buyers.  This has had other effects on the market that will play out over the next month and throughout 2018.