Monthly Resale Housing Figures for February 2016

Mark McLean, Toronto Real Estate Board President, announced Greater Toronto Area Realtors reported a record number of home sales through TREB's MLS System during February 2016.

According to the statistics, there were 7,621 transactions reported in February which represents a 21.1 per cent increase in comparison to February 2015. In February 2015, 6,294 transactions were reported.

The number of new listings entered into TREB's MLS System also increased on a year-over-year basis, but by a lesser 8.2 per cent. Mark McLean stated the fact that the annual rate of sales growth exceeded the annual rate of new listings growth indicates a tightening of market conditions in comparison to last year.

He also stated that even after accounting for the leap year day, sales were higher than the previous record for February which was set back in 2010. Despite the new federal mortgage rules coming into effect, sales were up strongly from the 15th of February onward.

There was strong competition between buyers which resulted in a healthy growth in selling prices. The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark increased by 11.3 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price jumped by 14.9 per cent yearly to $685,278.

According to Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis, early sales results for January and February support the data suggested by TREB's recent polling conducted by Ipsos. The survey indicated that GTA households will remain optimistic about purchasing a home in 2016 and the statistics from January and February of this year support this view.

Reference: Toronto Real Estate Board