June 5, 2017 -- Toronto Real Estate Board
President Larry Cerqua announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported
10,196 sales through TREB's MLS® System in May 2017 – down by 20.3 per cent
compared to 12,790 sales reported in May 2016. Sales of detached homes were
down by 26.3 per cent. Sales of condominium apartments were down by 6.4 per
cent.
Active listings – the number of properties available for
sale at the end of May – were up by 42.9 per cent compared to the lowest level
in 15 years recorded in May 2016, but remained below the average and peak
during that period. The number increased considerably for low-rise home types
including detached and semi-detached houses and townhouses. Active listings for
condominium apartments were down compared to May 2016.
"Home buyers definitely benefitted from a better
supplied market in May, both in comparison to the same time last year and to
the first four months of 2017. However, even with the robust increase in active
listings, inventory levels remain low. At the end of May, we had less than two
months of inventory. This is why we continued to see very strong annual rates
of price growth, albeit lower than the peak growth rates earlier this
year," said Mr. Cerqua.
Selling prices continued to increase strongly in May
compared to the same month in 2016. The MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark price was
up by 29 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price for all home types
combined for the TREB Market Area as a whole was up by 14.9 per cent to $863,910.
Year-over-year price increases were greater for condominium apartments compared
to low-rise home types. This likely reflects the fact that the low-rise market
segments benefitted most from the increase in listings.
"The actual, or normalized, effect of the Ontario Fair
Housing Plan remains to be seen. In the past, some housing policy changes have
initially led to an overreaction on the part of homeowners and buyers, which
later balanced out. On the listings front, the increase in active listings
suggests that homeowners, after a protracted delay, are starting to react to
the strong price growth we've experienced over the past year by listing their
home for sale to take advantage of these equity gains," said Jason Mercer,
TREB's Director of Market Analysis.
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