September was a busy month for home sales in the GTA with 7,825 sales reported, showing a strong 22% year-over-year increase from September 2018, which only saw 6,414 sales, according to a new report from the Toronto Real Estate Board.
While this year-over-year increase is notable, it still doesn’t outperform the 2016 peak of more than 9,800 sales.
However, a tightened market helped push the average resale home prices in the Toronto region up 5.8% to $843,115 year-over-year in September — the highest point so far in 2019, according to the report. That average includes all housing types and condos.
Moreover, the average selling price in Toronto for September 2019 was $913,096 — up from $864,839 at the same point last year.
“Demand for ownership housing increased throughout the spring and summer of 2019 compared to the very slow pace of sales experienced in 2018,” said TREB President Michael Collins in a statement.
“That being said, many first-time buyers are still experiencing difficulty finding an affordable home.”
While overall sales were up in the GTA, the supply of listings was actually a “concern,” with new listings downs 1.9% year-over-year to 15,611.
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“We have experienced multiple months this year wherein the annual rate of sales growth outpaced the annual rate of new listings growth,” reads the TREB report.
The board said these figures speak to “tightening market conditions and an accelerating rate of price growth.”
Additionally, on a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, the September 2019 average selling price was up by 1.2% compared to August 2019.
“It is interesting to note that market conditions for detached homes have tightened over the past year. In many of the regions surrounding the City of Toronto, detached price growth was above the rate of inflation on an annual basis,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.
The price of a detached home in the Toronto area rose 4.1% in September to an average of $1.05 million.
However, in the city of Toronto, a detached house sold for an average of $1.37 million compared to $946,256 in the 905 areas outside the city.
The biggest price gains in September were in the townhouse market, which saw a 6.8% increase compared to September 2018, with an average price of $677,387.
As for condos, prices jumped 4.2% higher than the same month last year with an average sale price of $595,013. In the 905 municipalities, condo prices rose 9.2% year-over-year to an average of $497,403.
source: Torealestateagent.com