GTA house sales surge in July as overall active listings fall
Sales climbed 10 per cent, year over year across the GTA. While there were 15,187 new listings, overall active listings were down almost 5 per cent.

theStar.com
Aug. 7, 2014
Susan Pigg

It was the second-best July on record for house sales across the GTA as a delayed spring market gave way to a surprisingly hot summer, according to figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board Thursday.

Sales climbed 10 per cent, year over year, and the average sale price was up 7.5 per cent against July 2013. The average sale price for a home in the GTA – which includes both freehold houses and condos – was $550,700 last month, according to TREB figures.

Even condos saw a surge in sales, which were up almost 14 per cent across the GTA as more buyers turn to the one housing type that remains somewhat affordable. Average sale prices were also up, by more than 5.3, says TREB.

The average price of a condo in the City of Toronto was up 4.7 per cent in July, year over year, to $379,002. That compared to a 7.3 increase in average sale price for condos in the 905 regions, to $302,685.

Detached homes in the high-demand 416 region saw the strongest price growth at 11 per cent, although the average sale price was down to $880,433 after coming perilously close to $1 million in the spring.

That’s more likely a reflection of the type of detached homes that changed hands: The spring had seen a flurry of higher-end and more expensive infill houses up for sale.

Detached house prices averaged $638,864 in the 905 region.

But inventory of houses for sale remains a challenge. While there were 15,187 new listings in July, overall active listings were down almost 5 per cent, which has led to continued bidding wars – although not quite at the pace seen last spring as the market headed into its cyclical summer slowdown, realtors say.

“Strong demand for ownership housing will underpin robust average price increases for the remainder of 2014,” said TREB’s senior manager of market analysis, Jason Mercer. “In fact, the pace of price growth that we have experienced over the past year will continue until growth in listings outpaces growth in sales for a sustained period of time.”

Semi-detached home sales were up just 0.2 per cent overall in July over a year earlier, but prices were up an average of 8.2 per cent across the GTA. In the City of Toronto, the average semi-detached sale price was up 9.2 per cent in last month, to an average transaction price of $635,311.

Semis in the 905 also saw an 8.3 per cent increase in average price, but to $452,536, says TREB.

Townhouse sales climbed by 10.3 per cent across the GTA. That brought the average price in the 416 region to $493,989, up 9.2 per cent, and to $402,472 in the 905 regions, up 6.2 per cent.