Toronto's Financial District from the CN Tower by Jiuguang Wang
Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported the best result on record for the month of October: 8,804 home sales were recorded through TREB’s MLS® System last month. Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean noted that owning a home represents a high quality, long-term investment, and we can expect a big, new record for home sales this year.
"Despite the record October result, I must point out that the Government of Ontario could hamper home sales in the near future. The Wynne government is seriously considering allowing municipalities throughout Ontario to institute a second land transfer tax on top of the existing provincial tax. Recent polling has shown that the great majority of Ontarians oppose this tax and would consider delaying a move if they were forced to bear the additional upfront cost,"
added Mr. McLean.
Active listings were down by 7.53 per cent to 16,180 for Greater Toronto Area. In contrast, in the C02 area 273 active listings were recorded, representing 10.08 per cent growth year over year.
Average selling price for all home types combined was up by 7.38 per cent, reaching $630,876. In the C02 area, the price growth was almost unnoticeable – the $1,201,981 it has reached represents only 0.69 per cent growth. It is clear that the price growth continues to be pushed by the low-rise market segments. Over the same period, the MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 10.3 per cent compared to October 2014.
"Record sales coupled with a constrained supply of listings in many GTA neighbourhoods has underpinned very strong price growth throughout 2015. Even if we do see a greater supply of low-rise listings in the marketplace over the next year, market conditions will remain tight enough to see continued price growth well-above the rate of inflation,"
said Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis.
NM00NM
