Home sales in Toronto, Canada's largest housing market, rose 18.6% year-over-year in July as summer demand heated up in the city.
There were 6,961 property sales across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last month, marking an 18.6% surge from the previous year when the impact of Ontario's so-called Fair Housing Plan was taking hold. Analysts say the strong sales numbers this July reflect the fact that buyers are adjusting to a slew of regulatory changes.
Even more encouraging was the fact that sales rose across ever property type in July, with the most significant gains in the GTA's coveted detached market, where sales soared 26.8% year-over-year. Meanwhile, supply tightened up last month with new listings dipping 1.8% year-over-year, while the total active inventory of properties available for purchase rose 5.2%.
The average selling price for all homes in July rose 4.8% year-over-year to $782,129, which marked a sequential drop from $807,871 in June.
"We have certainly experienced an increase in demand for ownership housing so far this summer," said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board's Director of Market Analysis, in a news release. "It appears that some people who initially moved to the sidelines due to the psychological impact of the Fair Housing Plan and changes to mortgage lending guidelines have re-entered the market."
The monthly activity across Toronto stands in stark contrast to how Canada's other highly-scrutinized housing market fared in July. On Thursday, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported sales plummeted 30.1% year-over-year to an 18-year low this July.
