April 3, 2014 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President
Dianne Usher announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported strong
year-over-year increases in TorontoMLS home sales and the average selling price
in March 2014. Home ownership affordability, backstopped by low borrowing
costs, continued to be a key factor underlying this growth.
A total of 8,081 sales were reported in March 2014 – up by 7.2 per cent in
comparison to March 2013. Sales growth was much stronger in March compared to
the first two months of the first quarter. Sales for Q1 as a whole were up by
three per cent compared to the first three months of 2013.
“Sales activity in the GTA
accelerated last month. Compared to last year, a greater number of buyers found
affordable home ownership options, as evidenced by sales growth for all major
home types. Against this backdrop, however, overall inventory at the end of
March remained lower than last year. This means competition between buyers
increased, which is why the average selling price continued to climb,” said Ms.
Usher.
The average selling price for
March 2014 sales was $557,684 – an increase of almost eight per cent compared
to the average reported for March 2013. The average price for the first quarter
of 2014 was up by 8.5 per cent year-over-year.
“With borrowing costs
remaining low, and in fact declining, strong home ownership demand will
continue to butt up against a constrained supply of listings. Strong price
growth will be the result for the remainder of 2014. If the pace of price
growth experienced in the first quarter is sustained, TREB may revise its
outlook for the average selling price,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior
Manager of Market Analysis.
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