Toronto home prices, sales slide in August

Average sales prices in Canada’s largest city continue to decline on a month-to-month basis, according to data released Wednesday by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

The board said the average sale price in the Greater Toronto Area was $ 732,292 in August, up three per cent from a year ago, but down 1.9 per cent from the $ 746,218 average in July.

Prices continue to fall since the Ontario government introduced its 16-point plan to cool the housing market that included a province- wide expansion of rent control and a 15 per cent nonresident speculation tax. The average sale price for April, which includes almost three weeks of trade before new measures were effective, was $920,791.

“Recent reports suggest that economic conditions remain strong in the GTA. Positive economic news coupled with the slower pace of price growth we are now experiencing could prompt an improvement in the demand for ownership housing, over and above the regular seasonal bump, as we move through the fall,” said Tim Syrianos, president of the board.

The board’s home price i ndex composite benchmark, which is intended to smooth out variations and accounts for typical home types throughout TREB’s market area, was up by 14.3 per cent on a year- over- year basis in August.

“The f act ( t he i ndex) outstripped average price growth, points to fewer highend home sales this year compared to last,” the board said. It noted price growth is being driven by “semi- detached, townhouse and condominium apartment market segments that continued to experience high single- digit or double- digit year- overyear average price increases.”

Sales activity continues to be way down from a year ago with the 6,357 transactions last month, off more than 34.8 per cent from a year ago. New listings in August dropped 6.7 per cent from a year ago, and at 11,523 were at their lowest level for August since 2010.

Sales of detached homes, believed to be bear the most impact from provincial changes, were off 41.6 per cent from a year ago, while prices were up 0.3 per cent during the period.

The condo sector remains the hottest in the GTA with average sale prices up 21.4 per cent from a year ago to $ 507,841 in August. Condo sales were still off 28 per cent during the period.

“The relationship between sales and listings in the marketplace today suggests a balanced market. If current conditions are sustained over the coming months, we would expect to see yearover- year price growth normalize slightly above the rate of inflation,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis for TREB. “However, if some buyers move from the sidelines back into the marketplace, as TREB consumer research suggests may happen, an acceleration in price growth could result if listings remain at current levels.”