John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News
Home sales continue to slide in Toronto's real estate market.
The Greater Toronto Area recorded 1,991 home sales during the first half of November 2008, a 44% decline from the 3,544 sales during the same period last year. Prices appear to have stabilized with the average price for a home in the GTA dropping 4.5% to $375,712. Prices in the 905 region remained virtually unchanged over last year while prices in the city of Toronto dropped by 7.5% over last year.
As I've noted in previous posts, the decline in average price for the city of Toronto is exaggerated because of the effects of the land transfer tax last year.
‘It’s particularly important to interpret the 416 area statistics in context given the market surge we saw a year ago when buyers moved to avoid the new Toronto Land Transfer Tax,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ms. O’Neill. “At midmonth a year ago, transactions in the 416 area had increased 24 per cent over the same period in 2006.”
It's also worth noting that at midmonth a year ago, average prices in the city of Toronto were up 13% over the previous year. Much of the increase in average prices last year had to do with the significant increase in sales of high end homes.
Expect the slowdown in sales and decline in average prices to continue for the remainder of this year.
John Pasalis is a sales associate at Prudential Properties Plus in Toronto and a founder of Realosophy. Email John
November 19, 2008
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