June 18th, 2013 Toronto Market Report

GTA REALTORS® RELEASE MID-MONTH RESALE HOUSING FIGURES
TORONTO, June 18, 2013 – Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 4,620 sales through the TorontoMLS system during the first two weeks of June 2013. This result was up by 4.7 per cent compared to the first two weeks of June 2012. Year-over-year sales growth was driven by the regions/counties surrounding the City of Toronto. Home sales in the City were basically flat in comparison to last year. “The expectation was for an improvement in home sales in the second half of 2013. Early June results are in line with this outlook. Many households have adapted to stricter lending guidelines and have renewed their search for ownership housing,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ann Hannah. “It is also important to note that new listings were down over the same period. With sales up and new listings down, market conditions became tighter. This supports the moderate to strong rates of price growth reported for most major home types, including condominium apartments,” added Ms. Hannah.

The average selling price for the first fourteen days of June was $536,141 – up by 3.8 per cent compared to June 2012. “While price growth has been driven by low-rise home types this year, condominium apartment price growth has improved since March. Despite higher inventory levels, there have been enough buyers relative to available listings to support condo price appreciation,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

My Take on the rest of the Year

In summary I expect that sales in terms of number of units sold will be in line with last years numbers. Prices may flatten over the next few months as inventory levels rise which will make it easier for buyers who have been looking for homes. I expect the Average price will increase modestly by 2%-3% from now until the end of the year. Recently rates on the 5 year and 4 year products went up by 10-20 basis points. If you are a buyer looking to buy make sure you get a pre-approval done in order to lock in a rate. You may want to consider a 3 to 5 year fixed product as rates are low on these products now. 

To view current rates visit http://www.ilisttorontohomes.com/canada-mortgage-rates.html

If you have any questions on the market or are looking to buy, sell or invest in Real Estate feel welcome to contact me at 416-901-8777 or email me at aprasoulis@gmail.com.