Toronto Real Estate Sales Relaxed Last Month
Looks like this season’s record amount of snow had its toll on some Toronto home buyers and made them decide to wait out for the spring market.
“Low inventory levels kept the Toronto real estate market brisk but well off record levels last month,” Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill announced today.
The average price in the GTA rose four per cent to $380,338 and two per cent in the City of Toronto to $404,361, compared to last March.
The average Days on Market (DOM) was only 30 days. DOM is one of the indicators Real Estate Agents watch closely, and 30 days is a good indicator of a healthy market.
“Overall sales in the GTA declined 22% compared to March 2007, 27% in the city of Toronto and 18% in the 905 suburbs,” said Ms. O’Neill. “It’s important to recognize though, that despite the worst winter in decades, 6,631 homes changed hands last month in the GTA and that is still a significant number.”
However, some GTA neighbourhoods (Bowmanville, Burlington and Thorncliffe Park ) experienced increased sales activity last month driven primarily by strong detached and semi-detached home sales.
Ms. O’Neill says that March’s moderate performance isn’t disturbing given that Canadian economic fundamentals are holding steady. “Forty per cent of international households that come to Canada settle in the GTA, giving us robust immigration levels; employment and wages continue to be strong; borrowing costs remain at historically low levels and there is a wide variety of mortgage products from which to choose,” she said.
This means that there is a steady demand for housing and consumers should have the financial resources to buy homes; with such pent-up demand it is an excellent time to sell your home.
“We remain concerned about the land transfer tax in Toronto and the economic slowdown in the United States,” added Ms. O’Neill. “Home sales in the City of Toronto spiked towards the end of 2007 probably in a bid to avoid the Toronto land transfer tax, but have since dropped off since the introduction of the tax.”
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