September 7, 2016 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Larry
Cerqua announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported a record 9,813
sales through TREB's MLS® System in August 2016.
While this sales result was 23.5 per
cent above the number of transactions reported for August 2015, it is important
to note that the majority of sales are reported on working days and there were
two additional working days in August 2016 compared to 2015. When the
year-over-year discrepancy in working days is accounted for, the annual
percentage change in sales is closer to 13 per cent.
"The conditions underlying
strong demand for ownership housing remained in place, including a relatively
strong regional economy, growth in average earnings and low borrowing costs.
Unfortunately, we did not see any relief on the listings front, with the number
of new listings down compared to last year. This situation continued to
underpin very strong home price growth, irrespective of home type or
area," said Mr. Cerqua.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)
Composite Benchmark for August 2016 was up by 17.2 per cent on a year-over-year
basis. Similarly, the average selling price for all home types combined was up
by 17.7 per cent on an annual basis to $710,410. Both the MLS® HPI benchmarks
and average prices for low-rise home types were up by double digits percentage-wise.
"Population in the GTA continues
to grow. The resulting growth in households coupled with favourable economic
conditions and low borrowing costs means that we remain on track for another
record year for home sales. Against this backdrop, TREB will also be releasing
new third-party research, and consumer and REALTOR® survey results throughout
the fall and winter, with discussions focusing on foreign buying activity and
issues affecting the supply of ownership housing," said Jason Mercer,
TREB's Director of Market Analysis.
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