It’s the same old song and dance in Toronto real estate as it has been since the beginning of 2016 – the number of transactions is up, the average house price is up, and the supply of listings is down. Due to this continuing trend, we are in a seller’s market for anyone thinking of listing a home in the Greater Toronto area or within Toronto itself.

Condos everywhere are heating up

Due to the price increase on and lack of supply of detached and semi-detached homes, buyers are turning to condos en masse. Sales were up of condos in the GTA by 18%, while Toronto condos saw a 15% increase. The biggest increase of price segmented by type of property came in at a huge 21% for a detached home in the Greater Toronto Area.

Toronto Real Esate Board taking action

The Toronto Real Estate Board President, Larry Cerqua, stated that the TREB would be taking steps to help to increase the supply of listings in the long term.

“As the federal, provincial and local levels of government discuss housing policy in the coming months, issues affecting the lack of supply in the GTA should be of paramount importance. TREB will be undertaking, and making public, results of additional research in the second half of 2016, with the goal of proactively adding to the housing policy discussion.”

While Cerqua did not specifically say how the research was structured, items that could contribute to increased supply that the government could offer are:

-Scaling back or preventing expansion of area greenbelts

-Offering additional tax incentives for new builds

-Improved land-use and land-supply rules

-Increased infrastructure spending to service new housing areas

-Reduced development charges

You can read the TREB June Market Watch here.