Sales and listings continue to rise as Toronto real estate market outperformed by suburbs

The Toronto real estate market continued its brisk pace in September setting a new record for the number of sales for the month at 11,083, according to the latest market statistics from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).

Although 2019 was a good year for Toronto real estate, and despite a major slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, all losses appear to have been recouped as the first nine months of 2020 are now up approximately one per cent when compared to the same period in 2019.

“Improving economic conditions and extremely low borrowing costs sustained record-level sales in September, as we continued to account for the substantial amount of pent-up demand that resulted from the spring downturn,” said Lisa Patel, president of TRREB. “Further improvements in the economy, including job growth, would support strong home sales moving forward. However, it will be important to monitor the trajectory of COVID-19 cases, the related government policy response, and the impact on jobs and consumer confidence.”

Market activity in September also resulted in considerable price appreciation especially in the low-rise sector of the market with average selling price for all home types up 14 per cent from last September. Condo prices continued to grow, but at a slower pace.

Other important indicators show that active listings continue to rise and now sit at more than 18,000 throughout the region, up from 16,662 in August. Month-to-month average price of detached and semi-detached homes dropped from August to September, while prices for townhomes and condos increased.

“On a GTA-wide basis, market conditions tightened in September relative to last year, with sales increasing at a faster pace than new listings,” said Jason Mercer, TRREB’s chief market analyst. “With competition between buyers increasing noticeably, double-digit year-over-year price growth was commonplace throughout the region in September, resulting in the overall average selling price reaching a new record.”

Toronto home prices increases were eclipsed by other regions almost across the entire board with Halton and Durham regions showing the highest rate of price growth. The average price growth in the entire 905 region was 16.9 per cent while the city of Toronto was under 10 per cent.