Garry Marr
Other
Existing homes sales in the Greater Toronto Area rose 30% in September from a year ago and a strong third quarter has the market about even with 2012 now.
The Toronto Real Estate Board said there was 7,411 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in September, up from 5,687 sales a year ago. It was also up from the 6,249 in sales in August. For the first nine months of the year, sales are now down 1% compared with the same period in 2012.
“It’s great news that households have found that the costs of home ownership, including mortgage payments, remain affordable. This is why the third quarter was characterized by renewed growth in home sales in the GTA. We expect to see sales up for the remainder of 2013, as the pent-up demand that resulted from stricter mortgage lending guidelines continues to be satisfied,” said Dianne Usher, president of the board, in a statement.
The average sale price last month also climbed 6.5% from a year ago to $533,797. That’s also up from $503,094 from August. Over the first nine months of the year, the average selling price was $520,118, a 4% jump from 2012.
“The price growth story in September continued to be about strong demand for low-rise home types, coupled with a short supply of listings. Even with slower price growth and month-to-month volatility in the condo apartment market, overall annual price growth has been well above the rate of inflation this year. This scenario will continue to play out through the remainder of 2013,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s senior manager of market analysis, in the release.
© 2013 National Post