On Sept. 5, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) released the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Realtors’ housing market figures for August 2013.

Housing transactions in August

According to TREB, GTA Realtors reported 7,569 residential transactions for August 2013. This is a year over year increase of 21%; last year, August only saw 6,249 transactions.

TREB President Dianne Usher said, “Sales were up strongly this past August for all major home types compared to last year. Many households have accounted for the added costs brought on by stricter mortgage lending guidelines and have reactivated their search for a home. These households have found that a diversity of affordable ownership options exist throughout the GTA.”

Average home prices in the GTA

In August, the average selling price of a home was $503,094, a 5.5% increase from August 2012 ($477,170).

TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis Jason Mercer said, “Despite an increase in borrowing costs during the spring and summer, an average priced home in the GTA has remained affordable for a household earning an average income. With this in mind, tight market conditions are expected to promote continued price growth through the remainder of 2013.”

Housing market breakdown

The sales numbers shown below are a combination of the 416 and 905 regions, and the percentages are the year over year changes.

Detached: 3,635 - 24.2%

Semi-detached: 767 - 13.6%

Townhomes: 1,223 - 17.6%

Condos: 1,786 - 20.1%

As you can see, every home type improved compared to the same time last year, with detached homes performing the best. Another thing to note is that condo sales were up 20.1% - despite all the negative headlines in the media and naysayers foreseeing some sort of condo Armageddon.

The high numbers for August come as a happy surprise, and it makes us even more excited for autumn!