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The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has released their monthly report on Toronto's housing market for October 2017, pointing to signs of growing momentum after a period of uncertainty brought on by new measures introduced to cool a runaway market. Fall has traditionally been the busiest time of the year for home sales, which has remained true in 2017 despite an overall decline in the market over the past several months.
A total of 7,118 residential sales were recorded during the month, representing an almost 12% increase over September. While this figure marks a year-over-year decline from the 9,715 transactions recorded in October 2016, the fall sales spike is exceeding TREB's expectations, who are optimistic about the coming months.
“Every year we generally see a jump in sales between September and October. However, this year that increase was more pronounced than usual compared to the previous ten years. So, while the number of transactions was still down relative to last year’s record pace, it certainly does appear that sales momentum is picking up,” said TREB President Tim Syrianos.
A year-over-year drop in overall sales was recorded for the first 10 months of the year, falling from 99,233 in 2016 down to 80,198 in 2017. The average selling price for October increased by 2.3% to $780,104, rising from the $762,691 recorded in October 2016, while the MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark price increased by 9.7% during the same period.
“The housing market in the GTA has been impacted by a number of policy changes at the provincial and federal levels," said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis. "Similar to the track followed in the Greater Vancouver Area, it appears that the psychological impact of the Fair Housing Plan, including the tax on foreign buyers, is starting to unwind.”
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