The number of homes listed for sale in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) fell nearly 20% in October as home sales in the city rose 14% year-over-year.
There were 15,375 active listings across the GTA last month, an 18.8% decline compared to the same period of October 2018, according to data released by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). At the same time, 8,491 properties were sold in the GTA in the month, a 14% increase from a year ago.
Shrinking supply and increased sales helped to push the average price of a house in the GTA up 5.5% to $852,142, said TREB. "As market conditions in the GTA have steadily tightened throughout 2019, we have seen an acceleration in the annual rate of price growth," said TREB in a news release.
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver announced that home sales in that metropolitan area surged 45.4% in October from a year earlier as lower prices helped to fuel increased sales.
The board said there were 2,858 sales for the month, up from 1,966 sales a year ago, to come in 9.8% above the 10-year sales average for October. The board added that homebuyers have more confidence than in the first half of the year as prices edge down and interest rates remain low.
Detached home sales in Vancouver were up 47.3%, where the benchmark price was $1.41 million. Condo sales were up 40.5% with a benchmark price of $652,500. Attached home sales rose 55.8% with a benchmark price of $771,600. New listings in Vancouver, though, were down 16.4% in October compared with a year ago at 4,074 combined. The total number of active listings was down 5.8% from a year ago to 12,236.
