John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News
The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 2,565 transactions in the first half of March 2009, a 19% drop from the 3,183 transactions reported during the same period last year. For those who haven't been keeping an eye on Toronto's real estate market, a 19% decline is a significant improvement over the close to 50% decline in sales we were seeing just a few months ago. But as I mentioned in a previous post (see A Closer Look at Toronto’s Real Estate Market), the sales performance for March 2009 is going to look better than it really is because of the poor sales in March 2008.
Prices are down by 5% across the Greater Toronto Area with the City of Toronto showing a 3% decline and the 905 Region a 7% drop.
Here's TREB's press release:
Greater Toronto REALTORS® announced 2,565 transactions in the first half of March compared to 3,183 during the same period last year. The annual rate of MLS® sales decline was the smallest in five months.
Mid-month March MLS® sales increased compared to the 2,044 sales experienced in the first half of February. MLS® sales follow a recurring seasonal trend, with transactions generally increasing between January and May and then decreasing between June and December.
“As we move into the spring market, it appears that we are seeing stronger demand for
ownership housing in the Greater Toronto Area,” said TREB President Maureen O’Neill.
“Buyers are reacting to the market’s strong foundation of affordability.”
The average price for MLS® sales was $365,499 compared to $385,405 last year.
“Affordability has improved over the past few months due to a combination of lower home prices, near record lows for mortgage rates and rising earnings,”1 according to Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
John Pasalis is a sales associate at Prudential Properties Plus in Toronto and a founder of Realosophy. Email John
March 19, 2009
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