New hope for buyers as supply of new listings in Toronto exceeds demand for the first time since January

In August, sellers continued to ride the wave of the GTA Housing Market, as Toronto home prices climbed 10 per cent. Last week, Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McClean announced that GTA REALTORS® reported 7,998 residential sales through the TREB MLS® System for the month of August. In a year over year comparison, this figure represented a 5.7 increase compared to 7,568 sales reported in August 2014.

For the first time since January, the supply of new listings in Toronto exceeded the demand, however, active listings toward the end of August were still down compared to the same time last year. Although the increase in new listings is encouraging, it will likely take several months for the market to balance out. Until then, GTA housing market conditions remain in the seller’s favour.

“Buyers in the GTA remain confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term. They see ownership housing as a quality investment that has historically produced positive returns while at the same time providing owners with a place to live in their chosen community,” said Mr. McLean.

Both the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark and the average selling price for all home types combined were up substantially in August compared to the same period in 2014, an increase of about 10 per cent in a year-over-year comparison.
(Source: Toronto Real Estate Board)

Market Bears anxiously await a bubble to burst, however, if the health of the city’s economy serves as any indicator, this “bubble” is nonexistent … and crash? Not likely. As for residential sales, we can expect them to slow in the upcoming months, however, they will remain hot compared to markets in other Canadian cities – with the exception of Vancouver of course.