Photo: James Bombales
After months of falling sales, the GTA housing market saw an uptick in activity in June, a sign that the market may finally be adjusting to the new mortgage stress test.
There were 8,082 home sales throughout the GTA last month, up 2.5 per cent year-over-year, according to the latest data release from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).
“Home ownership has proven to be a positive long-term investment,” writes Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura, in a statement. “After some adjustment to the Fair Housing Plan, the new [mortgage] stress…and generally higher borrowing costs, home buyers are starting to move back into the market, with sales trending up from last year’s lows.”
But while sales are up, listings are still trending downwards, which could create a tighter market in the coming months. For a closer look at what happened in the GTA housing market last month, Livabl has rounded up 7 stats which put things in perspective.
1. Sales were up 17.6 per cent on a month-over-month basis, continuing what TREB calls the “somewhat volatile” trend of month-over-month sales increases.
2. “Sales were up a little bit year-over-year, but new listings were down nearly 18 per cent [year-over-year],” TREB’s Director of Market Analysis and Service Channels Jason Mercer tells Livabl. “We’ve eaten into almost all of the inventory that came onto the market last spring, because the issue of [lack] of supply has remained a problem.”
3. The average selling price for a home inched up 2 per cent year-over-year, to $807,871.
4. “[The lack of supply] could cause more competition between various buyers, which could place stronger upward pressure on home prices,” says Mercer.
5. After preliminary seasonal adjustment, the average selling price was up by 3.3 per cent month-over-month.
6. Meanwhile, the MLS Home Price Index was down by 4.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis, while remaining relatively flat month-over-month.
7. TREB attributes the difference in the average price and the MLS HPI to a change in the mix of properties sold last month, as low-rise homes accounted for a greater share of sales in June 2018 than June 2017.
