On Monday we talked about how home sales around Canada were doing, but what about the market that’s causing the most worry in the country? Now topping Vancouver as the most overheated market in the nation, we’ll look at how Toronto did during those same June home sales.
With condos being nearly all that’s available in Toronto, especially if you’re looking for a reasonable price on a home, it’s those that we and the Toronto Real Estate Board first focused on. Unfortunately, sales of condos in Toronto fell by six per cent on a year-over-year basis. However, it’s important to remember that last June the last round of mortgage changes had not gone into effect, but plenty of Torontonians knew they were on their way. This caused for a large push on real estate of all kinds last year, and will result in some slightly dim numbers this year.
The condo news isn’t all terrible in Toronto, either. Compared to the first quarter of this year, when condo sales in the City of Toronto fell by a whopping 17 per cent, the city was able to cut that in half and then some, meaning that things could be looking up.
The average selling price on those condos has also edged slightly up, perhaps showing that the overstock of inventory on the market is now starting to be taken on by buyers, and that sellers are holding fast and not buying into bearish views and commentary. Overall the average price of a Toronto condo rose by 1.7 per cent to $347,896. The MLS home price index also showed a gain of 1 per cent in the market.
“The GTA condominium apartment market has been the subject of much discussion recently, due in large part to the number of new units completed over the past two years and the number of units that remain under construction,” said Dianne Usher, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board.
“With this in mind, it is important to point out that the condo market has fared quite well. Even with sales down and the number of active listings up, the average selling price has found support at current levels.”
Jason Mercer, senior manager of market analysis at TREB, also says that if the number of new condo listings continues to shrink while the number of sales improves, “we could see the pace of condo price growth accelerate as market conditions tighten.”
The majority of June sales were right in the City of Toronto, while Durham Region saw some growth, and the areas of Halton, Peel, and York declined slightly.
