Toronto housing market roars back to life in July — with prices shooting up by 17%

Pent-up demand from COVID-19 has helped Toronto’s resale home market roar back to life this summer.

The Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) reported 16.9 per cent year over year average price growth and a 29.5 per cent uptick in sales in July.

The number of new listings also rose 24.7 per cent annually, but it wasn’t enough for the growth in sales, making for a tighter market this year than last. Active listings also shrank 16.3 per cent compared to July 2019, the real estate board said on Thursday.

Real estate board president Lisa Patel said travel restrictions that have seen fewer people take summer holidays have likely translated into more listings and sales.

“Normally, we would see sales dip in July relative to June as more households take vacation especially with children out of school. This year, however, was different with pent-up demand from the COVID-19-related lull in April and May being satisfied in the summer, as economic recovery takes firmer hold,” she said.

The increase to an average price of $943,710, including all types of single-family houses and condos, was about $12,500 more than June’s record-breaking average when prices topped the April 2017 peak. It was also well above the June 2019 average price of $806,971.

There were 49.5 per cent more homes sold in July than June this year, said the real estate board.

“Competition between buyers continued to increase in many segments of the GTA ownership housing market in July, which fuelled a further acceleration in year-over-year price growth in July compared to June,” said the real estate board’s chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

The growth was led by detached houses which had a 25.5 per cent price gain in the city of Toronto to an average of $1.54 million. In the 905 communities, detached homes were selling for 14 per cent more than last July with an average price of $1.06 million.

Sales of detached homes across the GTA rose 43.7 per cent. There were only 27.5 per cent more sales in the city of Toronto, compared to 48.3 per cent in the 905 areas.

Condo sales 6.7 per cent regionwide with a 4.7 per cent year-over-year rise in the city and 11.7 per cent more sales in the outlying communities.

Condo prices grew 8.8 per cent across the Toronto region to an average price of $635,778. Prices on condos rose slightly more in the 905 with a 10 per cent year-over-year gain.

There was an uptick of only 4.7 per cent in Toronto condos compared to 11.7 per cent more sales of those units outside the city.

The average selling price this year to date is $903,607.

The real estate board has said that its original pre-COVID forecast of 10 per cent price growth for 2020 could still be realized, but it has cautioned that the optimism depends on whether or not the virus surges again in the fall.

Toronto Star

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