Monthly Market Update – July 2019

Toronto Real Estate Board announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 8,595 sales through TREB’s MLS® System in July 2019.  This result was up by 24.3% compared to July 2018. On a month-over-month basis, sales were up by 5.%.New listings entered into TREB’s MLS® System in July 2019 were up by 3.7% compared to July 2018.

With annual growth in sales far outstripping annual growth in new listings, market conditions clearly tightened compared to last year.  Active listings at the end of July were down by 9.1% year-over-year, further reflecting tightening market conditions.

“While the OSFI mortgage stress test has clearly had an impact on the number of home sales over the last year-and-a-half, for most GTA residents the goal of home ownership has not diminished.  In fact, we’re seeing growing pent-up demand for ownership housing, especially as the number of GTA households continues to increase by 40,000 to 50,000 each year due to strong population growth.  As more and more households come to terms with the stress test and move back into the market in the coming months and years, they could suffer from a chronically under-supplied marketplace and an acceleration of home price growth to unsustainable levels. Fortunately, policy makers have acknowledged the housing supply issue and are working toward solutions,” said TREB CEO John DiMichele.“

As market conditions continued to tighten in July, the average selling price increased by 3.2% on a year-over-year basis to $806,755. Higher density home types continued to drive price growth, whereas detached home prices remained down in many communities throughout the GTA.

“Broadly speaking, increased competition between buyers for available properties has resulted in relatively strong price growth above the rate of inflation for semi-detached houses, townhouses and condominium apartments.  However, the single-detached market segment, which has arguably been impacted most by the OSFI stress test, has experienced a slower pace of price growth, with average detached prices remaining lower than last year’s levels in some parts of the GTA,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

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