Activity, Prices Continue to Climb in November: TREB

Thursday, 08 December 2011, Prices and sales activity continue to be strong in the Toronto housing market, according to the latest figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Transactions rose by 11% in November, year-over-year, while new listings during the same time period rose by 14%. Average prices rose by nearly 10% as well, with the average price registering in at $480,421. “We have seen strong annual sales growth through the 2011 fall market. The increase in
transactions has been broad-based, with strong growth across low-rise and high-rise home types throughout the Greater Toronto Area,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Richard Silver. “The market has also become better supplied, with annual new listings growth outstripping that of sales. As this trend continues into 2012, we will see more balanced market conditions.”
Although prices continue to climb in the area, TREB contends that the housing market still offers affordable choices.
“Despite strong price growth this year, the housing market remains affordable in the GTA,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The correct method of assessing affordability is to consider the share of the average household’s income that is dedicated to mortgage principal and interest, property taxes and utilities. Currently, this share remains in line with generally accepted lending guidelines. Given this positive affordability picture, average price growth is forecast to continue in 2012, albeit at a more moderate pace.”
Looking at housing types, sales for both detached housing and condos rose by 11%; sales for semi-detached homes rose by 13% and sales for town homes rose by 8%. For average prices, both condos and town home prices rose by 8%, year-over-year. Prices for detached homes rose by 10%, while semi-detached prices rose by 11%.

Healthy Fall Market Continues in November

December 6, 2011 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,092 residential transactions through the TorontoMLS® system in November – up 11 per cent in comparison to November 2010. At the same time, the number of new listings was up by 14 per cent in comparison to last year.

“We have seen strong annual sales growth through the 2011 fall market. The increase in transactions has been broad-based, with strong growth across low-rise and high-rise home types throughout the Greater Toronto Area,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Richard Silver. “The market has also become better supplied, with annual new listings growth outstripping that of sales. As this trend continues into 2012, we will see more balanced market conditions.”

The average price for November transactions was $480,421, representing an increase of almost 10 per cent in comparison to $437,494 in November 2010.

"Despite strong price growth this year, the housing market remains affordable in the GTA," said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "The correct method of assessing affordability is to consider the share of the average household’s
income that is dedicated to mortgage principal and interest, property taxes and utilities. Currently, this share remains in line with generally accepted lending guidelines. Given this positive affordability picture, average price growth is forecast to continue in 2012, albeit at a more moderate pace."

September Rounds Out a Strong Third Quarter Toronto

October 5, 2011 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,658 transactions through the TorontoMLS® system in September – a 25 per cent increase over September 2010. Sales during the first three quarters of 2011 amounted to 70,588, representing a 2.6 per cent increase compared to the first nine months of 2010.

“We have experienced strong growth in sales so far this year, with a much more active summer compared to 2010. However, while sales have been strong, we have continued to experience a shortage of listings, resulting in more competition between home buyers,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. “Over the past few months, the listing situation has started to improve, so we expect home buyers will have more homes to choose from in the months ahead.”

With annual growth in sales (+25 per cent) outstripping annual growth in new listings (+15 per cent) in September, market conditions became tighter and the average selling price continued to grow by close to 10 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

“Strong price growth through the first nine months of the year was mitigated to a great degree by low interest rates and rising incomes,” said the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis Jason Mercer. “As buyers continue to take advantage of the affordable home ownership options in the GTA, we remain on pace for the second best year for sales under the current TREB market area.”

Source: Treb

Strong August Home Sales in the GTA

September 7, 2011 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,542 sales through the TorontoMLS® system in August – a 24 per cent increase over 6,083 sales in August 2010. New listings, at 12,509, were up by 20 per cent compared to August 2010. Market conditions remained tight as sales growth outstripped growth in new listings.

"Home sales in the GTA have stood up well despite a less certain economic outlook," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. "Home sales will be bolstered by low mortgage rates moving forward. The Bank of Canada is expected to be on the sidelines until the second half of 2012 or even into 2013. However, home ownership affordability in the City of Toronto could be further improved with the removal of the City's land transfer tax. This tax currently represents a substantial upfront cost for home buyers."

With market conditions remaining tight in the GTA, the average selling price continued to grow strongly in August – up by more than 10 per cent year-over-year to $451,663.
"We remain on pace for the second best year on record for sales. Approximately 90,000 transactions are expected by the end of December," said TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis Jason Mercer. "Major home ownership costs, including the average monthly mortgage payment, remain affordable despite the strong price growth experienced so far this year."

TREB Latest Response to Competition Commissioner - TREB Holds Firm in Order to Protect Consumers

Toronto, July 8, 2011 – The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) today responded to more legal and publicity manoeuvres by the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau.
"The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to make changes to TREB's own property listing system (MLS®) that TREB believes would violate consumer privacy laws, reduce the quality of the system, and diminish protection for consumers who list their homes in the Greater Toronto real estate market," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver.
TREB believes strongly in open competition within a housing market where consumers can be ensured privacy and quality. TREB has recently taken steps to provide secure password-protected websites designed to allow consumers to search and display MLS® listing data.
The Commissioner is pressuring TREB to go further to release private data about individual consumers openly on the internet. TREB believes that would be reckless and, in fact, a violation of the law.
"TREB appreciates that the Commissioner has a job to do, but TREB is the wrong target," said Mr. Silver. "The Commissioner obviously has recognized that her initial Application back in May was faulty. Instead of working with TREB to find a practical solution for consumers, the Commissioner has today decided to pursue an additional legal process that will further delay improvements and further disadvantage consumers."
TREB will continue to work on behalf of its Members and consumers to ensure the highest quality of safe and secure service to consumers within the Greater Toronto real estate market.

Source: Treb

TorontoMLS® Sales and Average Price Up in June

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,230 home sales through the TorontoMLS® system in June 2011 – up 21 per cent compared to June 2010. This number represented the third best June result on record behind 2007 and 2009. The number of transactions during the first six months of 2011 amounted to 48,189 – down by 4.5 per cent compared to the first half of 2010.
"The strong June result capped off an interesting first half of 2011," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver. "The pace of sales was a bit sluggish at the beginning of the year, but rebounded in May and June. Because of the positive affordability picture, home buyers remained confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term."
The average price for June transactions was $476,371 – a 9.5 per cent increase over June 2010. Through the first six months of the year, the average selling price was $467,169 – almost an eight per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010.
"While sales have been strong, we would be on track for a record number of transactions in 2011 if not for the decline in listings so far this year," said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "Tight supply meant more competition between home buyers and an accelerating annual rate of price growth in the second quarter."
"Home owners will likely react to the stronger price growth by listing their homes in greater numbers. A better supplied market would result in more moderate price increases," continued Mercer.

Canadians Showing Restrained Optimism Regarding Economy

According to a new poll released by Economic Club of Canada/POLLARA, Canadians are showing a restrained optimism in terms of the economy.

The poll shows that, although there is an increase in confidence on economic growth,Canadians are less positive about the state of the economy as whole at the beginning of 2011 than they were at the beginning of 2010.

30% of Canadians indicate that at economy is in a state of moderate growth heading into 2011, which is compared to 17% in December 2009; worries about a severe recession happening have fallen from 17% in December 2009 to less than 10% in December 2010.
However, only 38% of Canadians surveyed feel the Canadian economy will improve in the next twelve months, compared to 54% who felt that way in December 2009. One in five Canadians feel the Canadian economy will actually worsen in 2011, compared to 14% who felt that way one year ago.

"Canadians were feeling overly bullish on economic recovery this time last year," said Michael Marzolini, Chairman of POLLARA "But clearly, these lofty expectations in Canada and around the world have not yet been met, and Canadians are now more measured in their feelings about the economy."

Results for this poll were taken from 2560 respondents on POLLARA's online panel between December 10-15, 2010, and weighted by age, gender and region to ensure they are based upon a representative sub-section of Canada's population. The margin of error in such a survey is 1.9%, 19 times out of 20.

Although there has been a slight dip in economic optimism, Canadians, for the most part are feeling more optimistic about Canada's economy than in other locations globally. 42% of Canadians feel the US economy will get worse in 2011, compared with 19% who feel it will get better. Regarding the Global economy, 43% of Canadians feel it get worse over the next year, compared to 20% who feel the Global economy will improve.

“Canada's economic performance has not gone unnoticed by Canadians," said Economic Club of Canada President Mark Adler. "Compared to the rest of the world, Canadians clearly feel more secure with their own domestic economic performance and its prospects for the future."

Canadians listed their top economic concerns as: the cost of living (78%), Government deficit and national debt (72%), having enough money to retire (70%), healthcare costs (69%), value of their investments (57%), and own family debt load (55%).

Written by Newsroom,  Propertywire

Monday, 10 January 2011

Third Best Year for Existing Home Sales

January 6, 2011 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,395 existing home sales for the month of December, bringing the 2010 total to 86,170 – down by one per cent compared to 2009.

"Market conditions were anything but uniform in 2010. We went from super-charged sales activity during the first four months of the year, to a marked drop-off in transactions in the summer and then in the fall saw sales climb back to levels that are sustainable over the longer term," said TREB President Bill Johnston.

"New Federal Government-mandated mortgage lending guidelines, higher borrowing costs and misconceptions about the HST caused a pause in home buying in the summer. As it became clear that the HST was not applicable to the sale price of an existing home and buyers realized that home ownership remained affordable, market conditions improved," continued Johnston.

The average home selling price in 2010 was $431,463 – up nine per cent in comparison to the 2009 average selling price of $395,460. In December, the average annual rate of price growth was five per cent.

"At the outset of 2010, we were experiencing annual rates of price growth at or near 20 per cent. This was the result of extremely tight market conditions coupled with the fact that we were comparing prices to the trough of the recession at the beginning of 2009," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

"Balanced market conditions in the second half of 2010 resulted in more moderate home price appreciation," continued Mercer. "Expect the average selling price to grow at or below five per cent in 2011. With this type of growth, mortgage carrying costs for the average priced home in the GTA will remain affordable for a household earning an average income."

Median Price

In December, the median price was $355,000, from the $349,000 recorded during December of 2009.

Source: Treb