October 2015 Market Review

TREB reported 8,804 sales through the Toronto MLS in October, 3.4% more sales than October 2014, setting another monthly sales record. By now it should come as no surprise to anybody that new records are set almost every month. The economy is strong and the population of Toronto continues to grow, two factors that will obviously contribute to demand for housing.

That demand is faced with tight supply. Both new listings (-0.4% to 13,339) and total available listings (-7.5% to 16,180) declined last month. Although we usually see a surge in listings for the fall market, that just hasn’t happened to the degree we used to see pre-recession.

For example, TREB’s Market Watch for October, 2007 showed 13,363 new listings for the month, and 20,626 total available listings (which, by the way, was down from 24,367 in October 2006, 22,875 in October 2005 and 23,353 in October 2004 – all well above today’s inventory). That’s a decline of 20% compared to 2007, and that seriously reduces choice for buyers – and increases the likelihood that buyers will have to compete for a house, which in turn drives up prices.

The average sale price in the 416 increased 7.3 per cent over October of last year, to $630,876. TREB’s HPI, which is designed to properly weight sales by type (because a fully detached house will usually sell for more than a semi-detached) was up 10.3%. Strong sales means serious price increases.

The condo market continues to chug along. Sales in the 416 were up by 9.7% over the previous year; average price increased by 4.2%.

The fall market is still underway, and will go (as much as it can, given the shortage of listings) probably through November. There’s still time to get your house on the market, and if you are a buyer there’s a decent chance you will find what you are looking for before the end of the year.