TORONTO, ONTARIO, August 3, 2023 – Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home sales, new listings and home prices were up in July 2023 in comparison to July 2022. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the market experienced more balance in July compared to June, with sales trending lower while new listings were up.
“Home sales continued to be above last year’s levels in July, which suggests that many households have adjusted to higher borrowing costs. With that being said, it does appear that the sales momentum that we experienced earlier in the spring has stalled somewhat since the Bank of Canada restarted its rate-tightening cycle in June. Compounding the impact of higher rates has been the persistent lack of listings for people to Purchase compared to previous years,” said Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron.
GTA REALTORS® reported 5,250 sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in July 2023, representing a 7.8 percent increase compared to July 2022. Over the same period, new listings were also up, but by a greater annual rate of 11.5 percent. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark was up by 1.3 percent year-over-year. The average selling price was also up by 4.2 percent to $1,118,374 over the same timeframe.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the number of sales trended lower for the second straight month, whereas new listings trended upward. The seasonally adjusted average selling price edged lower while the MLS® HPI Composite benchmark edged higher.
“Uncertainty surrounding the direction of borrowing costs, jobs, and the overall economy has impacted home Sales over the last two months. Over the long term, the demand for ownership housing will remain strong on the back of record population growth. However, many homebuyers will continue to be on the sidelines in the short term until the direction of monetary policy and the economy becomes clearer,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
“We continue to suffer from a misalignment in public policy as it relates to housing. The federal government is targeting record levels of immigration for the foreseeable future, but we have seen very little tangible progress in creating more ownership and rental housing to accommodate this growth. Population growth is imperative for economic development; however, this growth will be unsustainable if people can’t find an affordable place to live. All three levels of government need to be on the same page to fix this problem,” said TRREB CEO John Dimichele.
Condo Market Update
TORONTO, ONTARIO, July 13, 2023 – Market conditions in the condominium apartment segment tightened markedly in the second quarter of 2023. Sales were up strongly on a year-over-year basis, whereas the number of new listings was down sharply. With more competition between buyers, average condominium apartment selling prices should climb above last year’s levels in the second half of this year.
“Strong population growth and an extremely competitive rental market have resulted in anincrease in condominium apartment sales over the past year. Average condo selling prices remain below last year’s levels, which has helped from an affordability perspective.
However, as sales increase relative to the number of listings available, expect condo prices totrend upward in the months ahead, said Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron.
Total condominium apartment sales amounted to 6,844 in Q2 2023 3 up by more than 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. New condo listings were down by more than 13 percent over the same period. This divergence between condo sales and listings also meant that active listings at the end of Q2 2023 were down by eight percent compared to the end of Q2 2022.
The average selling price for a condominium apartment GTA-wide was $737,868 in Q2 2023 down by 4.2 percent compared to $770,539 in Q2 2022. In the City of Toronto, which accounted for two-thirds of total condo sales, the average selling price was $769,616. This result was down by 3.3 percent compared to Q2 2022.
“Average rents have increased well above the rate of inflation over the past two years 3 often by double-digit annual rates. Consumer polling conducted for TRREB by Ipsos has shown that theserent increases are pushing households back into the ownership market despite higher borrowing costs. This goes a long way to explaining why condo sales have increased over the past year, said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
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