Monthly Resale Housing Market Figures - August 2016

On September 7th, Toronto Real Estate Board released its monthly resale housing market figures for August 2016. The board's president, Larry Cerqua announced that a record number of 9,813 sales were reported through TREB's MLS system by Toronto area realtors last month. This figure represented a 23.5 per cent increase from the number of transactions reported in August 2015.

During August of last year, 7,943 sales were reported by GTA realtors. Toronto Real Estate Board stated that it is important to consider that most of the sales are reported on working days and last month there were two extra working days compared to August 2015.

Larry Cerqua stated that low borrowing costs, growth in average earnings and a relatively strong regional economy are factors that continue to influence strong demand for home ownership.

The number of new listings was down compared to last year. The lack of new listings has driven strong price growth regardless of the home type or location.

The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark for last month increased 17.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price for all home types also increased.

The average selling price for all home types combined was $710,410 in August which represented a 17.7 per cent increase on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price for all home types in August 2015 was $603,534.

Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis stated that population in the Greater Toronto Area continues to grow. Low borrowing costs along with growth in households means that we remain on track for another record year of home sales. He also mentioned that TREB will be releasing new third-party research and consumer and realtor survey results in fall and winter.

Reference:

Toronto Real Estate Board