June 2013 Market Review

June was a typically busy month in the Toronto real estate market. The number of sales reported in the Toronto MLS in June 2013 (9061) was just a shade under last year (9129). The average price ($531,374) increased by a fairly typical 4.7% year-over-year. (Regular readers will know that I consider 5% to be the most common annual increase over the last 10 years or so, with the exception of the very brief dip associated with the recession of late 2008-early 2009 and the subsequent bounce.) The June increase may have been partly spurred by a  6% drop in the number of new listings. That put a bit of constraint on spot supply, but overall the supply of active listings is up over last year. Basically, I’d call it business-as-usual for the last month of the spring market.

As much as we make of the ‘spring market’ – which is definitely characterized by a surge in listings, sales and prices – it’s not that there is no market in the summer. Last July TREB reported 7,570 sales – really only about 1,500 fewer than in the infamously busy month of June. August is slower still, but at 6,418 sales for the month in 2012, there’s still a fair bit of activity through the end of summer.

I mention that because we’re seeing a fair bit of spill-over from the 2013 spring market into the summer. In addition to my own listings and buyers, I see my professional colleagues out working much more than I would usually see in summer. We all know about ‘pent up demand’; for several years it has been confounded by ‘lack up supply’! This year, we could get through July with 20,000 + active listings on the MLS, which could help sustain sales through the summer months. Although there are usually fewer active buyers in the summer (with so many people at the beach, the cottage, the patio – any number of awesome places!), there are enough to take advantage of sustained summer supply.

An active summer market is good for both buyers and sellers. Although sellers might not see the price spikes their neighbours got in the spring, record sale prices still abound. For buyers, take advantage of your peers leaving town for the weekend and go find yourself a great new home! Either way, call me and we’ll get it done right. 😉