TREB Releases Resale Market Figures as Reported by GTA Realtors®


TORONTO, March 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Gurcharan (Garry) Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,025 homes sold through TREB’s MLS® System in February 2019.  This sales total was down by 2.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis.  Sales were also down compared to January 2019 following preliminary seasonal adjustment.

“The OSFI mandated mortgage stress test has left some buyers on the sidelines who have struggled to qualify for the type of home they want to buy.  The stress test should be reviewed and consideration should be given to bringing back 30 year amortizations for federally insured mortgages.  There is a federal budget and election on the horizon.  It will be interesting to see what policy measures are announced to help with home ownership affordability,” said Mr. Bhaura.

Despite sales being down year-over-year, new listings actually declined by a greater annual rate.  This suggests that market conditions became tighter compared to last year.  Tighter market conditions continued to support year-over-year average price growth.

Both the MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark and the average selling price were up modestly on a year-over-year basis in February 2019.  The MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark was up by 2.4 per cent year-over-year.  The average selling price for all home types combined was up by 1.6 per cent over the same period.  Price growth was driven by the condominium apartment segment and higher density low-rise home types.  On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis the average selling price was down compared to January 2019.

“Home sales reported through TREB’s MLS® System have a substantial impact on the Canadian economy.  A study conducted by Altus for TREB found that, on average, each home sale reported through TREB resulted in $68,000 in spin-off expenditures accruing to the economy.  With sales substantially lower than the 2016 record peak over the last two years, we have experienced a hit to the economy in the billions of dollars, in the GTA alone.  This hit has also translated into lower government revenues and, if sustained, could impact the employment picture as well,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis and Service Channels.

The rental market continued to operate in a high demand, low inventory environment during the first two months of 2019.  Strong competition between renters resulted in average rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments leased through TREB’s MLS® System increasing well-above the rate of inflation on a year-over-year basis for the January-February period. The average one-bedroom rent was up by 8.1 per cent to $2,145.  The average two-bedroom rent was up by 7.4 per cent to $2,810.

“With vacancy rates hovering in the one per cent range and average rents increasing in the high single digits, it is clear that signing a lease for a rental unit is not an easy proposition in the GTA.  While some rent control provisions have been relaxed by the new provincial government, policy makers need to look at further initiatives to encourage rather than discourage investment in rental apartments.  A recent Ipsos survey conducted for TREB found that almost one-quarter of investment property owners are very likely to list their property for sale this year, which is concerning in an already tight rental market,” said TREB CEO John DiMichele.

Summary of TREB MLS®  Sales and Average Price – February 1-28
 20192018
 SalesAverage PriceNew ListingsSalesAverage PriceNew Listings
City of Toronto ("416")1,879840,2113,3012,005806,5243,365
Rest of GTA ("905")3,146744,6726,5273,143743,0997,108
GTA5,025780,3979,8285,148767,80110,473


TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price  By Home Type – February 1-28
 SalesAverage Price
 416 905 Total416 905 Total
       
Detached470 1,701 2,171 1,294,936 894,147 980,914 
Yr./Yr. % Change-9.6%4.2%0.8%0.8%-1.9%-2.1%
Semi-Detached174 282 456 1,087,363 675,355 832,569 
Yr./Yr. % Change20.0%-6.9%1.8%10.5%4.1%9.9%
Townhouse159 634 793 764,569 603,372 635,693 
Yr./Yr. % Change-12.6%-4.2%-6.0%-1.7%0.5%-0.5%
Condo Apartment1,064 472 1,536 612,488 448,711 562,161 
Yr./Yr. % Change-6.7%-3.5%-5.7%7.4%3.1%6.1%


February 2019 Year-Over-Year Per Cent Change in the MLS® HPI
 Composite (All Types)Single-Family DetachedSingle-Family AttachedTownhouseApartment
TREB Total2.35%-0.57%1.36%4.45%7.92%
Halton Region0.23%-1.35%0.83%4.72%2.71%
Peel Region4.92%3.38%4.21%3.18%11.83%
City of Toronto5.50%0.56%3.51%6.03%8.70%
York Region-3.09%-3.96%-3.62%-0.59%1.15%
Durham Region-0.64%-1.13%0.08%2.18%-1.48%
Orangeville1.71%1.83%1.97%- - 
South Simcoe County1-0.16%-0.08%-0.92%- - 
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board    
1South Simcoe includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Essa, Innisfil and New Tecumseth 


Annual Summary of TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price
 Year-to-Date
 20192018
 SalesAverage PriceNew ListingsSalesAverage PriceNew Listings
City of Toronto ("416")3,298812,9826,4443,514789,7216,134
Rest of GTA ("905")5,720739,22112,8415,621731,45212,900
GTA9,018766,19719,2859,135753,86619,034


Annual TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price  By Home Type
 Year-to-Date 2019
 SalesAverage Price
 416 905 Total416 905 Total
       
Detached810 3,057 3,867 1,243,464 889,468 963,618 
Yr./Yr. % Change-9.4%5.2%1.8%-3.3%-0.7%-2.4%
Semi-Detached265 526 791 1,055,119 663,918 794,978 
Yr./Yr. % Change10.9%-7.2%-1.9%9.3%3.1%7.5%
Townhouse300 1,175 1,475 780,059 602,008 638,222 
Yr./Yr. % Change-5.4%-1.7%-2.4%4.1%1.2%1.8%
Condo Apartment1,903 869 2,772 603,298 452,380 555,986 
Yr./Yr. % Change-6.5%0.8%-4.3%8.0%5.3%6.9%


  
Seasonally Adjusted TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price1 
     
 SalesMonth-
over-
Month
% Chg.
Average
Price
Month-
over-
Month
% Chg.
February '185,986-11.3%$749,881-2.9%
March '186,0951.8%$754,7370.6%
April '185,907-3.1%$755,5150.1%
May '185,824-1.4%$764,2591.2%
June '186,49011.4%$786,4062.9%
July '186,7463.9%$806,9072.6%
August '186,9473.0%$804,581-0.3%
September '186,922-0.4%$800,687-0.5%
October '186,793-1.9%$807,1280.8%
November '186,698-1.4%$800,590-0.8%
December '186,7510.8%$793,999-0.8%
January '196,733-0.3%$782,944-1.4%
February '196,212-7.7%$764,637-2.3%
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board; CREA Seasonal Adjustment  
1 Preliminary seasonal adjustment undertaken by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).  Removing normal seasonal variations allows for more meaningful analysis of monthly changes and underlying trends.


 
Jan.-Feb. 2019 TREB MLS® System Condominium Apartment Rental Market Summary*
    
Apartment TypeMonth/YearRentalsAverage Rent
One-BedroomJan.-Feb 20192,316 $2,145 
Jan.-Feb 20182,232 $1,985 
Yr./Yr. % Chg.3.8% 8.1%
    
Two-BedroomJan.-Feb 20191,383 $2,810 
Jan.-Feb 20181,265 $2,616 
Yr./Yr. % Chg.9.3% 7.4%
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board  
*Note: A broader breakout of condominium apartment and condominium townhouse rental statistics by bedroom type and TREB areas and municipalities will continue to be provided in TREB's quarterly Rental Market Report.
 


Media Inquiries:  
Mary Gallagher, Senior Manager, Public Affairs
maryg@trebnet.com
(416) 443-8158

TREB is Canada’s largest real estate board. Over 53,000 residential and commercial TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area.  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®.

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