Thursday, March 3, 2016

Record Sales in February, Up 21.1%, Strong Competition Between Buyers makes Avg Selling Price go up by 14.9%. Some Properties Sell in the Same Day they are Listed.

Today, March 3rd, 2016, Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported a record number of home sales through TREB’s MLS® System in February 2016. There were 7,621 transactions reported this past February – up 21.1% compared to February 2015.

The number of new listings entered into TREB’s MLS® System was also up on a year-over-year basis, but by a lesser 8.2 per cent. The fact that the annual rate of sales growth outstripped the annual rate of new listings growth shows a tightening of market conditions compared to last year.
“Even after accounting for the leap year day, sales were above the previous record for February set back in 2010.  Sales were up strongly from the 15th day of the month onward as well, despite the new federal mortgage lending guidelines coming into effect that require at least a 10% down payment on the portion of purchase prices between $500,000 and $1,000,000,” said Mr. McLean.
Seller’s market conditions continued throughout the GTA in February.  Strong competition between buyers resulted in a healthy growth in selling prices. The average selling price was up by 14.9 per cent annually to $685,278.

“Recent polling conducted for TREB by Ipsos suggested that GTA households will remain upbeat about purchasing a home in 2016. Early sales results for January and February certainly support this view.  With strong sales up against a constrained supply of listings, home prices continued to trend strongly upward,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.

TorontoMLS Sales & Average Price  By Home Type
February 1 - 29, 2016
Sales
Average Price
416
905
Total
416
905
Total
Detached
855
2,772
3,627
1,211,459
816,705
909,761
Yr./Yr. % Change
11.8%
23.1%
20.3%
16.3%
17.4%
16.1%
Semi-Detached
239
486
725
848,835
534,476
638,106
Yr./Yr. % Change
21.9%
21.8%
21.8%
20.7%
12.7%
16.1%
Townhouse
253
849
1,102
578,667
493,092
512,739
Yr./Yr. % Change
11.0%
18.1%
16.4%
13.9%
13.8%
13.7%
Condo Apartment
1,439
607
2,046
435,579
327,086
403,392
Yr./Yr. % Change
25.6%
26.7%
25.9%
17.8%
1.6%
13.4%