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GTA (Toronto) Market Shows Movement to the Suburbs in July 2016

By
Commercial Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX West Realty Inc., Brokerage (Toronto)

GTA Market Shows Movement to the Suburbs in July 2016

The Toronto Real Estate Board released its mid-month report for July 2016.

Here it is:

“JULY 2016 TREB MID-MONTH STATISTICS

Greater Toronto REALTORS® are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service®.

Over 45,000 TREB Residential and Commercial Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area. TREB is Canada’s largest real estate board.

July 19, 2016 – Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 4,428 home sales through TREB’s MLS® System during the first 14 days of July 2016. This result represented a three per cent increase compared to the same time period in 2015.

Year-over-year sales growth was led by the condominium apartment market segment, with an increase of 10.9 per cent in the TREB market area as a whole.

New listings were also up over the same time period, but by a lesser annual rate of 1.5 per cent. With sales growth outstripping growth in new listings, strong seller’s market conditions persisted particularly with regard to low-rise home types, including singles, semis and town houses.

In line with the trend experienced throughout 2016, strong demand for ownership housing up against a constrained supply of listings underpinned double-digit year-over-year average price growth for low-rise home types and strong single-digit growth for the average condominium apartment price. The average selling price for all home types combined was $707,303 – up 15.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.

Very low borrowing costs and a relatively strong regional economy compared to other metropolitan areas across Canada have kept GTA households confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term. This confidence coupled with a lack of inventory in many neighbourhoods will see very strong price growth remain the norm in the second half of this year.”

Some Interesting Numbers

The average price of a single family home in the Greater Toronto area increased from $610,205 to $707,303 on a year over year basis (July 15, 2015 to July 15 2016). This $97.098 increase represents a 15.9% gain.

For the Toronto area alone, prices went from $615,589 to $672,345. This is a 9.2% increase.

For the suburbs, that is, what is commonly referred to as the 905 area, prices went from $607,262 to $726,206. This is a 19.6% increase.

Does this mean that people are moving to the suburbs? In essence, it does. This suggest that with property values having risen so abruptly in Toronto, there are better values to be found in the suburbs.

How does this break down across housing types?

Detached:    Up 16.8% in the 416 (Toronto

                   Up 22.9% in the 905

Semis          Up 26.4% in the 416

                   Up 16.6% in the 905

Towns        Up  4.7% in the 416

                   Up 15.4% in the 905

Condos       Up  6.0% in the 416

                   Up 18.9% in the 905

So, the push is for detached, towns and condo apartments in the 905. That’s where Buyers are perceiving better values, and semis in the 416. Naturally, there is a significant price differential and that underlies the increased desire for the suburbs.

If you would like to discuss the market, please give me a call.

Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker

www.iSourceRealEstate.com