Toronto's housing market stabilizes as sales rise, prices steady

Toronto's housing market kept its footing August as sales gained while prices were little changed, continuing to stabilize after a turbulent year.

Sales jumped 8.5% to 6,839 in August from the same period a year ago, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported Thursday and were up 2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from July. Average prices rose 4.7% from a year earlier to C$765,270 ($580,890) but benchmark prices, which measure the value of a typical home, fell 0.5% from July to C$764,800.

Toronto
A crane lifts material for construction on a condominium building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 10, 2018. The dollar value of building permits for multiple-unit homes exceeded single-unit properties for the first time on a quarterly basis between January and March. Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg

The housing market in Canada's biggest city has been stabilizing over the past few months, following a sharp plummet earlier in the year after various government regulations were implemented to rein in prices. The market began to crack in April last year after a foreign buyers tax was put in place but has recovered much of the decline over the past few months.

"Many homebuyers who had initially moved to the sidelines due to the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and new mortgage lending guidelines have renewed their search for a home and are getting deals done much more so than last year," Garry Bhaura, president at the housing board, said in a statement.

Detached homes lagged other housing segments in August, with the benchmark price dropping 1.9% from a year ago to C$914,900. Meanwhile, condo apartments led the price gains, jumping 9.9% from last August to C$505,500.

"Despite the fact the sales remain off the record highs from 2016 and 2017, many GTA neighborhoods continue to suffer from a lack of inventory," said Jason Mercer, TREB's director of market analysis. "This could present a problem if demand continues to accelerate over the next year, which is expected."

New listings were up 6% from a year ago to 12,166. Active listings rose 8.8% to 17,864, from 16,419 last year.

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