Friday, July 30, 2010

Market More Balanced in June

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 8,442 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June. This represented a 23 per cent decrease compared to the record 10,955 sales reported in June 2009. Sales for the second quarter of 2010 amounted to 28,810 – up one per cent annually. Year-to-date sales through June were up 23 per cent to 50,455 compared to the first six months of 2009.

"We experienced a record number of existing home sales during the first half of 2010, but these sales were weighted more towards the beginning of the year," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston. "The pace of home sales has moderated from record levels over the past two months with the prospect of higher mortgage rates."

The average price for June transactions was $435,034 – up eight per cent compared to the average of $403,972 recorded for June 2009.

"With more homes to choose from in the second quarter, many home buyers have been making less-aggressive offers. This has resulted in less upward pressure on the average selling price," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "The annual rate of average price growth in the second half of 2010 will be in the single digits."

Median Price
In June, the median price was $367,750, from the $345,000 recorded during June of 2009.


Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Toronto existing home sales fall by 23 per cent in June

The Toronto real estate market shows more signs of cooling off, with the second monthly drop in sales this year.

The Toronto Real Estate Board reported today that 8,442 homes sold in June, representing a 23 per cent decrease over June of 2009. In May, sales fell by one per cent compared with the prior year.“The pace of home sales has moderated from record levels over the past two months with the prospect of higher mortgage rates,” said board president Bill Johnston. The average price for June transactions was $435,034 up eight per cent from June of 2009. However, that is below the double digit increases that have been recorded earlier this year.

“With more homes to choose from in the second quarter, many home buyers have been making less aggressive offers,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s senior manager of market analysis. “This has resulted in less upward pressure on the selling price.” Active listings were also up by 28 per cent in June, suggesting that there is much more product on the market for buyers.

There is also more new supply in the pipeline, with Toronto residential building permits up by 22 per cent in April over May according to figures released today by Statistics Canada. Non residential building permits, representing industrial, commercial and institutional building were down by 28 per cent.


Source: by Tony Wong, Business Reporter (Toronto Star)