Note to Visitors: I include the Toronto Real Estate Board MARKET WATCH monthly summary of GTA market activity here for general interest. Please be aware that market activity — including prices — can vary tremendously depending on neighbourhood, style of home (detached or semi-detached house/ condo/townhouse), even side of the street or, the case of a condo, how high up it is. Location, and view, can significantly affect value.

If you would like to know more about home sale activity in your own area, please drop me a line.

Market Remains Tight with Sales Up in April

Source: Market Watch, Toronto Real Estate Board, April 2012
TORONTO, May 3, 2012

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,350 transactions through the TorontoMLS system in April 2012. This level of sales was 18 per cent higher than the 8,778 firm deals reported in April 2011. The strongest sales growth was reported in the single-detached market segment, with transactions of this home type up by 22 per cent compared to a year ago.

“Interest in single-detached homes has been very high, both in the City of Toronto and surrounding regions. Growth in single-detached listings has not kept up with demand, which means competition between buyers in this market segment increased. With this in mind, it was no surprise that the strongest annual price increase was also experienced in the single-detached segment,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President, Richard Silver.

The average price for April 2012 transactions was $517,556 – up 8.5 per cent compared to April 2011. While price growth was strongest for single-detached homes, the better-supplied condominium apartment segment experienced a more moderate annual rate of price growth, at four per cent.

“Monthly mortgage payments remain affordable for home buyers in the Greater Toronto Area. While interest rates are generally expected to increase over the next two years, the extent and timing of rate hikes has been thrown into question by slower than expected economic growth in the first quarter of this year. On net, borrowing costs are expected to remain a positive factor influencing home sales through 2012,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

TREB’s Market Watch Publication Has Changed

The reporting geography within TREB’s Market Watch publication changed with the release of July 2011 statistics.

TREB is now using a three-tier geographic hierarchy that includes regional municipalities/counties (e.g Peel Region), lower-tier municipalities (e.g. Mississauga) and recognized communities therein (e.g. Port Credit). Because of its size and population, the City of Toronto has been treated as a special case and will be broken down by districts similar to those used prior to July.

Due to month-to-month volatility in sales and average selling prices, TREB will not produce monthly reports on a community-level basis. Instead, detailed community-level statistics will be published every six months.

MLS replaces old district zones with neighbourhood names

On July 5, 2011, the Toronto Real Estate Board launched a new district structure to replace the existing TREB zones. This is intended to improve the search capabilities within the MLS®, and move from a district mapping system based on a “zone” identified by code numbers to one identified by commonly known names and more easily understood geographic areas.

In place of the old areas (Central, West, East and North) and districts (e.g. C01, C02, C08…), the new three tiers of address criteria will include Area, City and a Community (Neighbourhood).

The Toronto neighbourhood boundaries mirror those in the City of Toronto's neighbourhood maps, which you can see here: http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/profiles_map_and_index.htm.

Here's what TREB's new central downtown/midtown Toronto map looks like:

Here's what TREB's new east downtown Toronto map looks like:

Note to users: Although TREB endeavours to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information, it is not guaranteed. TREB accepts no responsibility for any loss arising from any use or reliance on the information contained herein.

All data on this page is copyright © 2011/2012 Toronto Real Estate Board. All rights reserved.