By - Ipsita Sarkar
Source: godshutter, Shutterstock
Average home prices in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) topped over C$1 million in February 2021, up 14.9 per cent year-over-year (YoY), informed the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) on Wednesday.
The price rise was led by historic home sales, which shot up by 52.5 per cent YoY last month, hitting sales figure of 10,970, as per data from GTA REALTORS®.
Housing demand really took off in the second half of 2020 and has continued to soar this year as buyers, confident of their job security, utilized the ultra-low mortgages interests.
The housing board is now warning that the already-hot home market will hit new levels in 2021.
TRREB President Lisa Patel says that the current supply of listings is not proportionate with the rising demand. This will make the entire real estate market more competitive as growth picks up after the inoculation drive by 2022.
The average price in Toronto area was C$995,201, while in the rest of GTA was C$1,071,512. The average home price for the entire region was C$1,045,488. Total new home listings were 15,137, up from 10,628 in 2020.
Sale of detached houses soared by ~30 per cent while semi-detached gained by ~65 per cent. Townhouse sales rose by ~50 per cent and condos by 63.2 per cent.
The average GTA home price also breached the million mark, hitting C$1,015,392 year-to-date (YTD), while listings touched 24,575, up from 18,466 same period last year.
Despite the rising demand, there’s an absence of new inventory that has led to the prices hit double-digit, said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
Reiterating similar views, TRREB CEO John DiMichele said, the pandemic has not stunted GTA residents’ home buying appetite. As economy bounces back and the immigration rises, the demand will further spike.