Strong Growth in New Listings in April
May
3, 2017 -- Toronto Real Estate
Board President Larry Cerqua announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS®
entered 33.6 per cent more new listings into TREB's MLS® System in April 2017,
at 21,630, compared to the same month in 2016. New listings were up by double-digits
for all low-rise home types, including detached and semi-detached houses and
townhouses. New listings for condominium apartments were at the same level as
last year.
Total sales for the TREB market area as a whole amounted to 11,630 – down 3.2
per cent year-over-year. One issue underlying this decline was the fact that
Easter fell in April in 2017 versus March in 2016, which resulted in fewer
working days this year compared to last and, historically, most sales are
entered into TREB's MLS® System on working days.
"The fact that we experienced extremely strong growth in new listings in
April means that buyers benefited from considerably more choice in the
marketplace. It is too early to tell whether the increase in new listings was
simply due to households reacting to the strong double-digit price growth
reported over the past year or if some of the increase was also a reaction to
the Ontario government's recently announced Fair Housing Plan," said Mr.
Cerqua. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark Price was up by
31.7 per cent year-over-year in April 2017. Similarly, the average selling
price for all home types combined was up by 24.5 per cent to $920,791.
"It was encouraging to see a very strong year-over-year increase in new
listings. If new listings growth continues to outpace sales growth moving
forward, we will start to see more balanced market conditions. It will likely
take a number of months to unwind the substantial pent-up demand that has built
over the past two years. Expect annual rates of price growth to remain
well-above the rate of inflation as we move through the spring and summer
months," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis.