GTA and Toronto Real Estate Statistics for May 2014

June 4, 2014 - The Toronto Real Estate Board today released it's May, 2014 residential resale statistics which showed continued strong growth in both average selling prices and the number of sales. In fact, May's overall total number of sales - 11,079 for Toronto and the GTA - represents a new record high for the month. That was an increase of 11.4% over last May's 9,946 total sales.

Naturally, record-low interest rates contribute largely to the sales activity. Five-year closed mortgages are available at the time of writing for 2.94% for qualified purchasers. Variable rates are running around 2.5%.

Contributing largely to price growth is the lack of listing inventory. That figure - "Total Active Listings" - continued to fall in May, down 8.8% compared to one year earlier.

Looking at the individual residential property types, sales of Detached homes in the City of Toronto rose 7.4% to 1,551 at an average price of $943,055 - up 9.2% versus May, 2013. In the surrounding GTA/Greater Toronto Area, those Detached numbers reflect a 15.2% increase in the number of sales to 4,164 at an average price of $648,439, up 7.9%.

Last year's brief swoon in the Condo Apartment market remains a distant memory with unit sales up 5.4% to 1,565 at an average price of $401,809 [+7.6%] in the City, and unit sales up 16.1% to 669 at an average price of $307,307 [+4.8%] in the surrounding GTA.

Overall, the average sale price - including all residential property types and all areas of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] - was $585,204, an 8.0% rise compared to May, 2013's $540,544. We are, of course, in the prime of the Spring Market, and it should be noted that overall average prices in both Toronto and the GTA were relatively flat on a month-over-month basis. While real estate statistics are almost always compared "year-over-year" due to the seasonality of the market, the month-to-month changes bear monitoring. Last year the average price continued to rise into May, though it fell slightly from April to May in 2012 as the spring market began to tail off.

Bungalows in Toronto and the GTA continue to be a very hot commodity, drawing multiple offers in many areas. The demand for Bungalows is driven by a combination of aging Boomers, a lower price-point for first-timers, and builders/renovators looking to put up larger homes or "reno & flip". Interestingly, older Bungalows all over the GTA are being renovated, expanded, or simply knocked down and replaced with more modern Bungalows in some cases.

The other notably hot sector in May was Townhomes, particularly in Toronto itself. Versus the overall sales increase of 11.4%, sales of Towns rose 18.8% in Toronto versus last May - again, likely the lower price point compared to Detached homes was the driver for Buyers who don't want to live in Condo Apartments. The average price for Towns was $503,737 in the 416 and $405,051 in the rest of the GTA [compared even to Semi-Detached's, for example, the averages for which were $684,980 and $443,644 respectively].

As noted above, that all-important Total Active Listings figure continued to drop, down 8.8% from one year earlier to 20,679. Based on the monthly sales total of 11,079, this would indicate "Forward Supply" - or inventory - of a relatively slim 1.87 months. Definitely a Seller's Market...

The time it took to sell a residence in Toronto/GTA further indicates this, averaging just 21 days on the market ["DOM"] or "8.7% faster" than one year ago.

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