GTA resale market sees record high sales in the first quarter of 2016
By Lucas on Apr 05, 2016
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has released its monthly resale housing figures for March 2016, announcing a record number of sales for the first quarter of the year.
In March 2016, there were 10,326 sales recorded through the MLS, which is 16.2% higher than last year. In total, the first quarter saw 22,575 sales, and that’s 15.8% higher than the first quarter of 2015. We can’t say the same about listings, as they were still down compared to the same period in previous years.
“Demand was clearly not an issue in the first three months of 2016, regardless of the housing market segment being considered,” says Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis. “The supply of listings, however, continued to aggravate many would-be home buyers. We could have experienced even stronger sales growth were it not for the constrained supply of listings, especially in the low-rise market segments. The resulting strong competition between buyers has underpinned the double-digit rates of price growth experienced so far this year.”
The average selling price for all home types went up 12.1% to $688,181, while the average price for the first quarter saw a 13.6% increase. One of the most expensive home types continues to be detached homes in the 416 area, with the average price rising 12.4% to $1,174,358. It’s important to note that while detached homes in the 905 are priced lower on average at $837,217, this is actually a larger increase of 18.2% compared to last year.
Another interesting statistic from the TREB report is that condo units in the 905 are getting more popular. Out of every home type in both the 905 and 416, the largest year-over-year increase of sales was for condo units in the 905, seeing a total of 833, which is an increase of 36.1%. Is it possible that the condo market in the 416 is becoming too expensive for buyers? Or are condo communities just becoming more popular among other types of buyers?
“At the beginning of 2016, TREB’s outlook for the year pointed to a strong possibility of a second consecutive record year for home sales,” says TREB President Mark McLean. “This outlook was based, in part, on upbeat consumer survey results pointing to robust home buying intentions. It is clear that these upbeat intentions have translated into record first quarter results.”
Do you think these record sales will continue throughout 2016? Will the new home market experience the same amount of traffic?
