TREB: GTA Resale Market Heats Up this Summer
By Lucas on Jul 04, 2014
Along with the temperature, the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) resale housing market figures are steadily rising. According to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), there were 10,180 sales reported through the TorontoMLS system in June 2014, which is a 15.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
New listings were also up, but the annual rate is still low, which means that competition between homebuyers is still fierce (another reason why buying new is a good route to take).
“Home buyers in the Greater Toronto Area are confident in their ability to purchase and affordably pay for a home. Generally speaking, buyers feel that ownership housing will be a good investment over the long term. This is why we continued to see increases in home sales in June for all major home types across the GTA. Given the degree of pent-up demand in the market today, I would expect to see sales growth continue through the summer,” said the new President of TREB, Paul Etherington.
The average selling price for a resale home in June 2014 was $568,953, which is 7.4 percent higher than June 2013. The strongest price increase was surprisingly for semis, jumping 9.7 percent to $537,184. The average selling price for a condo unit also went up 6.8 percent.
“With less than two months of inventory in many parts of the GTA, it makes sense that we continued to experience very strong price growth in June. This is especially the case for low-rise home types like singles, semis and townhouses. Strong price growth for these home types will continue through the remainder of 2014. Despite higher inventory levels, the condominium apartment market segment has benefitted from enough buyer interest to result in above-inflation price growth,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
The most popular home type in June 2014 was detached, with 5,048 sales. The average price for a detached home in the 416 region is down from previous months at $921,127, but remains higher than $600,000 in the 905 area at $641,972.
Condos were the second most popular home type, with 2,214 sales. The average price for a condo unit in the 416 was $390,569, and in the 905 it was $309,719.
According to TREB, the resale market will continue to see a rise in sales and prices throughout the summer.
