Will We See Record High Home Sales in May?
By Lucas on May 20, 2015
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has released its mid-month figures for May 2015, announcing that the GTA’s resale housing market is on track for another month of record sales.
In the first two weeks of May, there were 5,655 sales reported by GTA REALTORS through the MLS system, compared to 5,160 sales in May 2014, which is a year-over-year increase of 9.6%.
“It is clear that demand for ownership housing remains very strong in the GTA,” says TREB President, Paul Etherington. “So much so that, if the pace of sales experienced in the first half of this month is sustained in the second half, we will see record home sales for the month of May.”
The average selling price for the first 14 days of May went up 10.7% compared to the same period last year, hitting $652,782. Unsurprisingly, the detached home type saw the strongest price growth, rising 13.8%. The second strongest price jump was by townhomes, going up 11.6% to $483,661. Both semis and condo units went up in average price by over 7%.
“The low-rise market segments, including detached home sales, have been the driver of average price growth in the GTA this year,” says Jason Mercer, TREB Director of Market Analysis. “As market conditions have tightened, average price growth has remained very strong. However, while tighter market conditions have been a key factor, so too has been a shift to higher priced homes. Detached sales growth in the City of Toronto, for example, has been strongest for high-end homes. The resulting change in the mix of homes sold has also been an important factor in pushing the average price higher.”
When narrowed down to just the 416 area, the average selling price of a detached home went up 18.4% to $1,140,962. Detached homes in the 416 are the only housing type to have an average selling price break $1 million. When accounting for all of the GTA, the average detached home in the resale market will still cost you around $838,409.
Following a record breaking April for the GTA’s resale market, it will be interesting to see if May is also a record-breaking month! What does this surge in the resale market mean for the new home market? Has the GTA’s new home market become an affordable area to look for a new home?
