November 4, 2020 | Buying
GTA Home sales were up again year-over-year for the fourth month in a row. The Toronto Real Estate Board reported 10,563 sales through the MLS for the month of October 2020. These numbers displayed an increase of 25.1 per cent compared to the 8,445 transactions back in October of last year.
New listings and sales reached record levels for the month of October, keeping our record-breaking Toronto Real Estate Market alive. Although, year-over-year growth rates for sales and new listings digressed in some market segments. As for the detached market segments, the pace of annual growth far outpaced the number of new listings. When taking a look at the condominium apartment market segment, the number of new listings doubled compared to October 2019 which left sales growth to only increase by 2.2 per cent over the same period. Condominium supply is at an all-time high in Toronto right now, giving Buyers their pick, which in turn drives down competition, ultimately affecting price growth.
The competition between Buyers of single-family homes, and particularly detached homes, remained resilient in October and continued to encourage double-digit annual rates of price growth in the majority of GTA neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, condo Buyers have certainly benefitted from an increased level of inventory compared to this time last year. Condominium Sellers, however, have felt the sting of rental rate decline and lessening year-over-year price growth. Pre-COVID predictions already pointed to an increase in investor selling in 2020. The pandemic only added to this trend with a halt in our economic growth and stall in tourism which impacted cash flow for many investors.
In October 2020, the MLS HPI Composite Benchmark was up by 10.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price for all home types combined was $968,318 – a 13.7 per cent increase, compared to $851,877 back in October 2019.
Home sales year-to-date through October were above last year’s level. Recovery in the economy in some sectors combined with low borrowing costs has kept house hunting top-of-mind for many GTA residents. Conversely, we have not yet accounted for all of the pent-up demand as a result of the downturn we witnessed in the Spring when COVID-19 sent our province into lockdown. It is being said that we should expect record or near-record home sales for the remainder of 2020.
There is no doubt that transacting in Real Estate at this time has proven to be more difficult, however, not nearly impossible. We have had the pleasure of servicing a number of our clients during this pandemic resulting in successful and most of all SAFE transactions throughout. Very serious precautions are in place and while we keep those in the forefront, we are still here to offer our guidance and expertise to help you make the next real estate move that is right for you and find ways to take advantage of the current Toronto Real Estate Market. Contact us today for a no-obligation discussion on how we can help you throughout your real estate journey.