By: Zoocasa

Competition between buyers intensified in Toronto’s real estate market this November as sales jumped 14% year over year and new listings sank 18%. 

The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reports that a combination of increased demand and decreased supply led to tighter market conditions, with prices for Toronto homes for sale rising 7% year over year to an average of $843,637.  That means November had the strongest annual rate of price growth all year. 

“Increased competition between buyers has resulted in an acceleration in price growth,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s chief market analyst. “ Expect the rate of price growth to increase further if we see no relief on the listings supply front.” 

All property types saw strong price growth this month— detached houses rose 3.5% to an average of $1,044,138, semi-detached houses were up 5.7% to $837,573, townhouses increased 3% to $666,744 and condos rose an incredible 11.1% to $617,658. 

Condos likely increased the most in price because the new lending rules and stress test are still impacting buyers.  Since they can’t borrow as much as they could before the new regulations, which were put into place in 2018, they are pushed into less expensive types of housing such as condos. 

“An increasing number of home buyers impacted by demand-side policies over the past three years, including the 2017 Ontario Fair Housing Plan and the OSFI mortgage stress test, have moved back into the market for ownership housing,” says Michael Collins, TREB president. “ Based on affordability and stricter mortgage qualification standards, many buyers may have likely adjusted their preferences, changing the type and/or location of home they ultimately chose to purchase.” 

But Toronto continues to be the most expensive city among all Ontario real estate markets.  A detached house in the City of Toronto now stands at $1,360,246, but really $2,236,775 in Toronto Central, which is very roughly around Line 1 of the subway. 

TREB expects prices to continue to rise in December and into 2020, as long as sellers keep sitting on their houses and few new areas get developed. 

For more information on November’s housing market, check out the infographic below. 

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