Toronto heading for another record year in existing home sales

It’s early in 2016, but Canada’s largest city looks like it’s on pace to break another record in home sales.

The Toronto Real Estate Board Toronto Real reported there were 10,326 sales in March and 22,575 sales in the first quarter. March sales were up 16.2 per cent from a year ago while the first quarter activity grew 15.8 per cent from a year earlier with double-digit year-over-year rates of sales growth across all major home types.

“At the beginning of 2016, TREB’s outlook for the year pointed to a strong possibility of a second consecutive record year for home sales. This outlook was based, in part, on upbeat consumer survey results pointing to robust home buying intentions. It is clear that these upbeat intentions have translated into record first quarter results,” said Mark Mr. McLean, president of the board, in a statement.

Prices also continue to rise rapidly with the average detached home in the city of Toronto up 12.4 per from a year earlier, reaching $1.174 million. Across the Greater Toronto Area, the average detached home is now selling for $910,375.

The average selling price for all home types combined was up 12.1 per cent in March from a year earlier and 13.6 per cent in the first quarter in the same period.

“Demand was clearly not an issue in the first three months of 2016, regardless of the housing market segment being considered,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis for TREB, in a statement. “The supply of listings, however, continued to aggravate many would-be home buyers. We could have experienced even stronger sales growth were it not for the constrained supply of listings, especially in the low-rise market segments. The resulting strong competition between buyers has underpinned the double-digit rates of price growth experienced so far this year.”