Home sales in Toronto and Vancouver reached record levels in July as activity continued to rebound from pandemic-related lockdowns this past spring.
Sales in Toronto, Canada’s largest housing market, soared 29.5% year-over-year, setting a record for July as 11,081 properties traded hands. The strongest demand was seen in the detached-property market, as sales jumped almost 44% year-over-year.
The average selling price for all homes sold across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) jumped 16.9% year-over-year in July to $943,710, according to data released by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).
July’s figure marked a rebound from earlier in the pandemic when the average GTA home price abruptly tumbled to $821,392 in April as buying activity ground to a halt. July was the second straight month that the average selling price for homes in the GTA climbed to an all-time high, after June’s record of $930,869.
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said that home sales and prices in that west coast city rose in July as more homebuyers took advantage of low interest rates. Buyers purchased 3,128 homes in the Vancouver metro area last month, up from 2,443 in June and up from the 2,557 sold in July 2019.
The 28% month-over-month sales bump in Vancouver came as the market adjusted to virtual sales and safety precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Home prices also rose in Vancouver, hitting a benchmark of $1,031,400, 4.5% higher on a year-over-year basis.
Detached homes - as opposed to apartments and townhomes - was the fastest-growing segment in terms of climbing prices and sales volumes. The benchmark price in Vancouver is now $1,477,800 for detached homes, up 5% year-over-year after sales volumes increased 33.3% to 1,121 detached homes.
