Home sales in Toronto jumped up 10% in June compared to last year

The final month of spring saw buyers finally start to move “off the sidelines,” and home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) increased 10% year-over-year. However, sales were still down compared to May 2019.

According to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), home sales in the GTA jumped 10.4% in June compared to last year, resulting in 8,860 home sales through the Multiple Listing Service system in the month, up from 8,024 in the same month last year.

The number of new listings, on the other hand, remained very similar to the year before, while active listings actually fell 5.7%, according to TREB’s June Market Figures Report.

The slight rise in sales paired with the dip in new listings pushed the average selling price to $832,703, up 3% compared to June 2018, when the average price was $808,066.

TREB June 2019

According to TREB, price growth in the region was driven by the higher density market segments, which includes semi-detached houses, townhouses, and condominium apartments.

“Buyers started moving off the sidelines in the spring, as evidenced by strong year-over-year price growth throughout the second quarter,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

“However, because we saw virtually no change in the number of new listings, market conditions tightened and price growth picked up, especially for more higher density home types, which, on average, are less expensive than traditional detached houses and therefore provide more affordable housing options under the new OSFI stress test regime,” said Mercer.

TREB June 2019

For June, detached home prices dipped 1.4% as sales rose 18.6%. Semi-detached homes saw prices increase by 5.3%, and sales increased by 9.4%.

Townhouse prices went up 3.9%, while sales jumped 12% and condo prices climbed 5.2% as sales dropped 3.2%.

New listings for June totalled 15,816, which was down 0.4% from this time last year when there were only 15,876 listings.