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June 4th, 2018

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TREB Market Watch – May 2018

TORONTO, June 04, 2018 — Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,834 sales through TREB’s MLS® System in May 2018. This result was down by 22.2 per cent compared to May 2017. While the number of sales was down year-over-year, the annual rate of decline was less than reported in February, March and April, when sales were down by more than 30 per cent. On a month-over-month basis, seasonally adjusted May sales were basically flat compared to April.1

Supply of homes available for sale continued to be an issue. New listings were down by 26.2 per cent. The fact that new listings were down by more than sales in comparison to last year means that competition increased between buyers. Recent polling conducted by Ipsos for TREB suggests that listing intentions are down markedly since the fall.

“Home ownership remains a sound long-term investment. Unfortunately, many home buyers are still finding it difficult find a home that meets their needs. In a recent Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis study undertaken for the Toronto Real Estate Board, it was found that many people are over-housed in Ontario, with over five million extra bedrooms. These people don’t list their homes for sale, because they feel there are no alternative housing types for them to move into. Policy makers need to focus more on the ‘missing middle’ – home types that bridge the gap between detached houses and condominium apartments,” said Tim Syrianos, TREB President.

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was down by 5.4 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price for all home types combined was down by 6.6 per cent to $805,320. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average selling price was up by 1.1 per cent compared to April 2018.1

“Market conditions are becoming tighter in the Greater Toronto Area and this will provide support for home prices as we move through the second half of 2018 and into 2019. There are emerging indicators pointing toward increased competition between buyers, which generally leads to stronger price growth. In the City of Toronto, for example, average selling prices were at or above average listing prices for all major home types in May,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.

Housing Issues Important to Voters

TREB is releasing the results, today, of a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs regarding issues relevant to the upcoming provincial election.

“Housing and real estate issues are top of mind for many Ontario and GTA voters, and they often turn to their REALTOR® for opinions on these matters. That’s why we think it’s important to help shine the spotlight on these issues during the provincial election campaign,” said Tim Syrianos, TREB President.

The poll, conducted by on-line survey of 1200 GTA residents (500 in 416 and 700 in 905) between May 18 and May 22, 2018, found that,

  • Among 9 listed issues (health care, government spending/balancing budget, taxes, housing affordability, energy costs, economy, transportation/traffic, environment/climate change, enhancing social programs), 25% of GTA residents rank housing affordability in their top two most-important issues for the Ontario election campaign;
  • 69% agree (35% strongly/34% somewhat) that a party’s platform on housing affordability will influence who they vote for on election day;
  • Nearly six in ten (56%) of GTA residents believe that government policies should focus equally on increasing the supply of housing and reducing the demand of housing; few believe that they should only be focused on reducing demand;
  • 77% of GTA residents support reducing the provincial land transfer tax and 68% support repealing this tax completely.
Summary of TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price
May 1 – 31, 2018
2018 2017
Sales Average Price New Listings Sales Average Price New Listings
City of Toronto (“416”) 3,092 861,970 6,306 3,886 899,980 8,433
Rest of GTA (“905”) 4,742 768,381 12,716 6,180 838,361 17,331
GTA 7,834 805,320 19,022 10,066 862,149 25,764

 

TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price By Home Type
May 1 – 31, 2018
Sales Average Price
416 905 Total 416 905 Total
Detached 782 2,562 3,344 1,426,094 929,401 1,045,553
Yr./Yr. % Change -30.4% -27.9% -28.5% -5.6% -9.0% -8.2%
Semi-Detached 242 405 647 1,067,128 665,628 815,803
Yr./Yr. % Change -30.1% -28.9% -29.4% 0.3% -2.3% -1.2%
Townhouse 303 997 1,300 741,296 609,923 640,543
Yr./Yr. % Change -17.2% -12.2% -13.4% -0.1% -3.1% -2.5%
Condo Apartment 1,745 648 2,393 602,804 455,413 562,892
Yr./Yr. % Change -13.8% -19.9% -15.5% 6.5% 1.2% 5.7%

 

May 2018 Year-Over-Year Per Cent Change in the MLS® HPI
Composite (All Types) Single-Family Detached Single-Family Attached Townhouse Apartment
TREB Total -5.40% -10.19% -8.46% -4.29% 8.29%
Halton Region -3.84% -6.20% -4.20% -4.30% 10.10%
Peel Region -5.34% -7.33% -6.83% -6.28% 4.15%
City of Toronto 1.01% -8.60% -3.99% 1.04% 10.12%
York Region -15.59% -17.50% -17.56% -10.57% 1.02%
Durham Region -8.89% -9.07% -9.49% -9.19% -1.15%
Orangeville -1.97% -2.10% -2.76%
South Simcoe County1 -8.75% -9.08% -6.22%
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board
1South Simcoe includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Essa, Innisfil and New Tecumseth

 

Annual Summary of TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price
Year-to-Date
2018 2017
Sales Average Price New Listings Sales Average Price New Listings
City of Toronto (“416”) 12,340 832,486 22,050 17,012 883,660 27,593
Rest of GTA (“905”) 19,617 756,468 46,718 29,585 880,400 53,835
GTA 31,957 785,822 68,768 46,597 881,591 81,428

 

Annual TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price By Home Type
Year-to-Date 2018
Sales Average Price
416 905 Total 416 905 Total
Detached 3,199 10,501 13,700 1,339,618 918,270 1,016,656
Yr./Yr. % Change -33.6% -38.9% -37.8% -12.7% -14.9% -13.8%
Semi-Detached 981 1,870 2,851 1,022,263 653,520 780,401
Yr./Yr. % Change -25.0% -29.8% -28.2% -4.4% -8.2% -5.9%
Townhouse 1,154 4,062 5,216 755,448 603,918 637,443
Yr./Yr. % Change -24.9% -22.7% -23.2% 2.4% -8.1% -5.6%
Condo Apartment 6,925 2,759 9,684 586,721 446,307 546,717
Yr./Yr. % Change -24.9% -28.2% -25.9% 7.7% 3.9% 7.0%
Seasonally Adjusted TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price1
Sales Month-over-Month % Chg. Average Price Month-over-Month % Chg.
May. ’17 7,409 -19.7% $814,417 -5.4%
June. ’17 6,267 -15.4% $775,302 -4.8%
July. ’17 6,127 -2.2% $775,373 0.0%
August. ’17 6,489 5.9% $773,362 -0.3%
September. ’17 6,629 2.2% $782,414 1.2%
October. ’17 6,789 2.4% $786,238 0.5%
November. ’17 7,699 13.4% $777,036 -1.2%
December. ’17 8,606 11.8% $783,611 0.8%
January. ’18 6,528 -24.1% $769,509 -1.8%
February. ’18 5,948 -8.9% $746,897 -2.9%
March. ’18 5,851 -1.6% $752,402 0.7%
April. ’18 5,734 -2.0% $751,068 -0.2%
May. ’18 5,712 -0.4% $759,158 1.1%
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board; CREA Seasonal Adjustment
1 Preliminary seasonal adjustment undertaken by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Removing normal seasonal variations allows for more meaningful analysis of monthly changes and underlying trends.

TREB is Canada’s largest real estate board. Over 49,000 residential and commercial TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area. Greater Toronto REALTORS® are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service®.