February 3, 2017 - Toronto Real Estate Board President Larry Cerqua
announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,188 residential transactions
through TREB's MLS® System in January 2017. This result was up by 11.8 per cent compared
to 4,640 sales reported in January 2016. Annual rates of sales growth were higher for
condominium apartments than for low-rise home types.
January 2017 picked up where 2016 left off: sales were up on a year-over-year basis while the
number of new listings was down by double-digit annual rates for most major home types.
"Home ownership continues to be a great investment and remains very important to the
majority of GTA households. As we move through 2017, we expect the demand for ownership
housing to remain strong, including demand from first-time buyers who, according to a recent
Ipsos survey, could account for more than half of transactions this year. However, many of
these would-be buyers will have problems finding a home that meets their needs in a market
with very little inventory," said Cerqua.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark price was up by 21.8 per cent on a
year-over-year basis in January. Similarly, over the same period, the average selling price was
up by 22.3 per cent to $770,745, with double-digit gains in the average prices for all major
home types.
“The number of active listings on TREB’s MLS® System at the end of January was essentially
half of what was reported as available at the same time last year. That statistic, on its own,
tells us that there is a serious supply problem in the GTA – a problem that will continue to play
itself out in 2017. The result will be very strong price growth for all home types again this
year,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.
