GTA Market Watch for August 2012

Low-Rise Home Sales Drive August Price Growth

September 6, 2012 -- Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 6,418 sales through the TorontoMLS system in August 2012, representing a year-over-decline of almost 12.5 per cent compared to 7,330 sales reported in August 2011. The number of new listings reported in August was down by 5.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

“Residential transactions were down in August compared to last year. Stricter mortgage lending guidelines, which came into effect in July, arguably played a role. In the City of Toronto, the additional impact of relatively higher home prices coupled with the upfront cost associated with the City’s Land Transfer Tax led to a stronger annual decline in sales compared to the rest of the GTA,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.

The average selling price for August 2012 transactions was $479,095 – up by almost 6.5 per cent compared to August 2011. The annual rate of price growth was driven by the low-rise home segment in the City of Toronto, including single-detached homes with an average annual price increase of 15 per cent. The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI)* composite index, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of benchmark home prices from one year to the next, was up by 6.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While sales were down year-over-year in the GTA, so too were new listings. As a result, market conditions remained quite tight with substantial competition between buyers in the low-rise market segment,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The trends for sales and new listings are moving somewhat in synch, suggesting that the relationship between sales and listings will continue to promote price growth moving forward.”

For the Full report click HERE

GTA Real Estate Market Watch for July 2012

GTA Real Estate Market Watch for July 2012

Toronto home sales in July down 1.5 per cent from year ago

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GTA Market Watch for April 2012 | Blog | Eva Elliott

GTA Market Watch for April 2012 

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GTA Market Watch for February 2012

GTA Market Watch for February 2012

Tight Market Pushes the Average Price above $500K

March 5, 2012 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,032 sales in February 2012 – up 16 per cent compared to February 2011. New listings were also up over the same period, but by a lesser 11 per cent to 12,684. It is important to note that 2012 is a leap year, with one more day in February. Over the first 28 days of February, sales and new listings were up by ten per cent and six per cent respectively.

“With slightly more than two months of inventory in the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) market area, on average, it is not surprising that competition between buyers has exerted very strong upward pressure on the average selling price. Price growth will continue to be very strong until the market becomes better supplied,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver.

“It is important to note that both buyers and sellers are aware of current market conditions. This is evidenced by the fact that homes sold, on average, for 99 per cent of the asking price in February,” continued Silver.

The average selling price in the TREB market area was $502,508 in February – up 11 per cent compared to February 2011. The Composite MLS® Home Price Index for TREB, which provides a less volatile measure of price growth compared to the average price, was up by 7.3 per cent compared February 2011.

“If tight market conditions continue to result in higher than expected price growth as we move into the spring, expectations for 2012 as a whole will have to be revised upwards,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “While price growth remains strong, the average selling price remains affordable from a mortgage lending perspective for a household earning the average income in the GTA.”

NEW Canadian MLS Hope Price Index Report released.

http://www.evaelliott.ca/canadian-mls-home-price-index

 Canadian home buyers, sellers and Realtors are now being served by the newly launched Canadian Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Home Price Index (HPI) across Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Although Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver have had an HPI in place since the mid-1990s, this is the first HPI available for the five main boards designed to track trends in home prices in markets across Canada.

“Combined with the knowledge, experience and skills of your REALTOR®, the MLS® HPI allows you to better understand these trends — and how they can affect the market value of your home,” the site tells consumers, adding “More importantly, though, it helps you approach one of life’s most important decisions — buying or selling a home — with greater confidence.”

Just as with the National Association of Realtors’ HPI in America, the intent is to track overall trends, not predict any individual property value and allow consumers to compare “apples to apples” when moving from region to region.

The MLS HPI tracks changes in home prices by comparing price levels at a point in time with price levels in a base (reference) period which is different from average and median home price calculations in that the HPI is based on the value homebuyers assign to various housing attributes, which tend to evolve gradually over time. The company says, “This means that price changes calculated using the MLS® HPI are less volatile than those derived using common measures like average and median, which can swing dramatically in response to changes with high-end or low-end sales volumes over time.”

The new MLS HPI is published in each of Canada’s major real estate markets at or near the beginning of each month, to reflect activity that occurred during the previous month.

To see the latest report:

http://homepriceindex.ca/hpi_home_en.html