TORONTO, ONTARIO, January 4, 2019 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported a total of 77,426 residential transactions through TREB’s MLS® System in 2018. This result represented a 16.1 per cent decline compared to 92,263 sales reported in 2017. Total new listings entered into TREB’s MLS® System were down by 12.7 per cent over the same period to 155,823.

The overall average selling price for 2018 transactions, at $787,300, was down by 4.3 per cent year-over-year for all home types combined across the TREB market area.

Home prices were up very slightly in the City of Toronto and down in the surrounding GTA regions. This dichotomy reflects the fact that the condominium apartment segment, which accounted for a large proportion of sales in the City of Toronto, performed better from a pricing perspective than the detached market segment. The average price for condominium apartment sales across the TREB market area was up by 7.8 per cent year-over-year.

"Higher borrowing costs coupled with the new mortgage stress test certainly prompted some households to temporarily move to the sidelines to reassess their housing options. With this said, it is important to note that market conditions were improved in the second half of the year, both from a sales and pricing standpoint," said Garry Bhaura.

"After spiking in 2017, new listings receded markedly in 2018. In many neighbourhoods, despite fewer sales from a historic perspective, some buyers still struggled to find a home meeting their needs. The result was a resumption of a moderate year-over-year pace of home price growth in the second half of the year. Price growth was strongest for lessexpensive home types, as many home buyers sought more affordable home ownership options," said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis and Service Channels.

Source:Toronto Real Estate Board

TORONTO, December 12, 2015 – Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Feb.11, 2015 announced changes to the rules for government-backed mortgage insurance to contain risks in the housing market, reduce taxpayer exposure and support long-term stability. Effective February 15, 2016, the minimum down payment for new insured mortgages will increase from 5 per cent to 10 per cent for the portion of the house price above $500,000. The 5 per cent minimum down payment for properties up to $500,000 remains unchanged.

See below my graphics on the changes and my impact assessment on the housing market.

Source: Government of Canada Takes Action to Maintain a Healthy, Competitive and Stable Housing Market

TORONTO, December 1, 2015 - There will be no extension of Municipal land transfer tax beyond Toronto. Toronto has been charging municipal land transfer tax on top provincial land transfer tax. The Ontario Real Estate Association was arguing against the additional land transfer tax and as a result this and other consultations by the Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin, he has decided not to extend the municipal land transfer tax beyond Toronto.

source

February 8, 2012 - Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and five other major real estate boards including Toronto Real Estate Board have developed a new index to measure the trend in house prices and inflation in the housing market. There are a number of indices under MLS® HPI indices. This is similar to Consumer Price Index (CPI) that is a measure of consumer price inflation.
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