■This Month in Real Estate | SEPTEMBER, 2019

■Market Watch | September, 2019

GTA REALTORS® Release August 2019 Stats

September 5, 2019 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,711 residential sales through TREB's MLS® System in August 2019. This result represented a 13.4 per cent increase compared to 6,797 sales reported in August 2018. On a month-over- month basis, after preliminary seasonal adjustment, sales were up by 0.8 per cent.

GTA-wide sales were up on a year-over-year basis for all major market segments, with annual rates of sales growth strongest for low-rise home types including detached houses. This reflects the fact that demand for more expensive home types was very low in 2018 and has rebounded to a certain degree in 2019, albeit not back to the record levels experienced in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.

Market conditions also became tighter in August 2019 compared to a year ago because while sales were up year-over-year, new listings were down by three per cent over the same time period to 11,789. Year-to-date, growth in sales has well outstripped growth in new listings. This is why overall active listings counted at the end of August were down by more than 11 per cent compared to August 2018.

The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark for August 2019 was up by 4.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price, at $792,611 in August 2019, was up by 3.6 per cent year-over-year. Both the MLS® HPI benchmark prices and average selling prices were up on an annual basis for major market segments. The condominium apartment segment continued to lead the way in terms of price growth, followed by higher density low-rise home types and finally detached houses.

■This Month in Real Estate | AUGUST, 2019

■Market Watch | August, 2019

GTA REALTORS® Release July 2019 Stats

August 6, 2019 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 8,595 sales through TREB's MLS® System in July 2019. This result was up by 24.3 per cent compared to July 2018. On a month-over-month basis, sales were up by 5.1 per cent, after preliminary seasonal adjustment.

New listings entered into TREB's MLS® System in July 2019 were up compared to July 2018, but by a much lesser annual rate than sales, at 3.7 per cent. With annual growth in sales far outstripping annual growth in new listings, market conditions clearly tightened compared to last year. Active listings at the end of July were down by 9.1 per cent year-over-year, further reflecting tightening market conditions.

As market conditions continued to tighten in July, the average selling price increased by 3.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis to $806,755. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark was up by 4.4 per cent. Higher density home types continued to drive price growth, whereas detached home prices remained down in many communities throughout the GTA.

Broadly speaking, increased competition between buyers for available properties has resulted in relatively strong price growth above the rate of inflation for semi-detached houses, townhouses and condominium apartments. However, the single-detached market segment, which has arguably been impacted most by the OSFI stress test, has experienced a slower pace of price growth, with average detached prices remaining lower than last year's levels in some parts of the GTA.

■Condo & Rental Market Report | Q2 2019

Condo Market Report

July 24, 2019 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,038 condominium apartment sales through TREB's MLS® System in the second quarter of 2019. This result was up by 3.2 per cent compared to Q2 of 2018.

New condominium apartment listings entered into TREB's MLS® System were down by 3.5 per cent compared to Q2 2018, with 11,110 listings added in 2019 versus 11,512 listings added in 2018.

"As has generally been the case in the region since the implementation of the Ontario Government's Fair Housing Plan in 2017, the condo market segment has remained tight in comparison to other major housing types. However, from a price point perspective, condo apartments continue to offer prospective buyers a relatively affordable housing option when looking across the GTA," said Mr. Collins.

The average price of a condominium apartment increased by 5.1 percent from $561,343 in Q2 2018 to $589,887 in Q2 2019. Year-over-year price growth in the City of Toronto, which accounted for almost 70 percent of transactions, was slightly higher at 5.9 per cent, resulting in an average price of $639,316.

Through the first six months of 2019, condominium apartment completions reported by CMHC were down substantially on a year-over-year basis compared to the first half of 2018. Completions correlate to a certain degree with listings, as some investors choose to list their units for sale when title transfers to them from the builder.

The downturn in completions likely influenced both the year-over-year dip in new listings and the decline in the active listings count at the end of the second quarter. "The condominium apartment rental market also remained quite tight in the second quarter, with average rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments increasing above the rate of inflation on a year-over-year basis. However, we have seen an acceleration in the number of units listed for rent, which has provided renters with more choice in the market place and has coincided with a slower pace of average rent growth over the past year," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Chief Market Analyst.

Rental Market Report

July 4, 2019- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 9,749 condominium apartment rental transactions through TREB’s MLS® System in the second quarter of 2019. This result was up by 14.9 per cent compared to Q2 2018. The number of condominium apartments that were listed at some point during the second quarter of 2019 was also up on a year-over-year basis by 28.8 percent, nearly doubling the annual growth rate for rental transactions, suggesting that the rental market became better supplied over the past year. “The GTA population continues to trend upward, as the region attracts people from around the world, both on a permanent and temporary basis, to take advantage of a diversity of employment opportunities. Many of these new comers and existing GTA households choose to rent. With this in mind, it makes sense that we continue to see strong year-over-year increases in the number of condominium apartments rented,” said Mr. Collins. The average Q2 2019 one-bedroom condominium apartment rent for the GTA as a whole was $2,192, up 6.7 percent compared to Q2 2018. Over the same period, the average two-bedroom condominium apartment rent increased by 4.3 per cent to $2,873. “While the rental market remains tight, renters do appear to be benefitting from more supply in the marketplace. The pace of year-over-year average rent growth has slowed over the past year. That being said, average condo rents continued to increase well-above the rate of inflation in the second quarter. This suggests that new rental supply, in terms of both purpose-built rental units and investor-owned condominium apartments, is still required in the GTA to keep up with population growth and new household formation,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

■Market Watch | July, 2019

GTA REALTORS® Release June 2019 Stats

July 4, 2019 -- The new President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, Michael Collins, announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 8,860 sales through TREB's MLS® System in June 2019, representing a 10.4 per cent increase compared to June 2018. Over the same time period, total new listings remained at a similar level for the month of June and active listings at month-end were down by 5.7 per cent.

Sales and new listings statistics for the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 painted a similar story to that of June. Sales were up by 8.5 per cent, while new listings were up by less than one per cent. This shows that sales accounted for a greater share of listings compared to last year, which means that competition between buyers increased, resulting in renewed price growth in many segments of the market.

"As I start my term as President of the Toronto Real Estate Board, I am proud to say that the Greater Toronto Area continues to grow, in terms of employment, population and overall diversity. As people are attracted to our region from all around the world, they obviously need a place to live. Over the next year, as demand for ownership and rental housing continues to grow, my hope is that we will see more movement from policy makers on two fronts: alleviating the constrained supply of housing and providing more flexibility around demand-side policies, including the OSFI two percentage point mortgage stress test and allowable amortization periods on insured mortgages," said Mr. Collins.

The overall average selling price in June 2019 was $832,703 – up by three per cent compared to the average of $808,066 in June 2018. Price growth was driven by the higher density market segments, including semi-detached houses, townhouses and condominium apartments. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by a similar annual rate of 3.6 per cent. For the first half of 2019, the average selling price was $810,661, representing an increase of 2.4 per cent compared to the first half of 2018.

"Buyers started moving off the sidelines in the spring, as evidenced by strong year-over-year price growth throughout the second quarter. However, because we saw virtually no change in the number of new listings, market conditions tightened and price growth picked up, especially for more higher density home types, which, on average, are less-expensive than traditional detached houses and therefore provide more affordable housing options under the new OSFI stress test regime," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Chief Market Analyst.

■Market Watch | JUNE, 2019

GTA REALTORS® Release May 2019 Stats

June 5, 2019 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 9,989 transactions through TREB's MLS® System in May 2019.* While this result represented a substantial increase of 18.9 per cent over the 15-year low in May 2018, it should be noted that the result was still below the average for month of May sales for the previous ten years, which stands at almost 10,300.

The year-over-year uptick in sales experienced so far in the second quarter of 2019 reflects spring polling results from Ipsos (undertaken on behalf of TREB) suggesting that the share of likely home buyers in the Greater Toronto Area has edged upwards since the fall.

"After a sluggish start to 2019, the second quarter appears to be reflecting a positive shift in consumer sentiment toward ownership housing. Households continue to see ownership housing in the GTA as a quality long-term investment as population growth from immigration remains strong and the regional economy continues to create jobs across diversity of sectors. However, sales activity continues to be below the longerterm norm, as potential home buyers come to terms with the OSFI mortgage stress test and the fact that listings continue to be constrained relative to sales," said Mr. Bhaura.

The number of new listings entered into TREB's MLS® System in May 2019 was up only slightly compared to May 2018, increasing by 0.8 per cent to 19,386. Year-over-year growth in new listings was far outstripped by year-over-year growth in sales. This means that market conditions continued to tighten in favour of sellers. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite benchmark price was up by 3.1 per cent on a year-over-basis. The average selling price for all home types combined was up by a similar 3.6 per cent to $838,540. Price growth was driven by the condominium apartment and townhouse market segments.

"We are experiencing annual rates of price growth that are largely sustainable right now in the GTA – above the rate of inflation, but in the single digits. If, however, we continue to see growth in sales outstrip growth in new listings, price growth will accelerate. This potential outcome underpins calls from TREB and other housing industry stakeholders to address roadblocks preventing a more sustainable and diverse supply of housing reaching the market. Many households are not comfortable listing their homes for sale because they feel that there are no housing options available to better meet their needs," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Chief Market Analyst.

*The total sales in May 2018 were not as low as originally reported and have been upwardly revised to 8,402 from 7,834. The initial estimate of sales was conservative due to a one-off reporting discrepancy that was discovered when the May 2019 reports were being produced.