A tighter supply of new listings helped push the average resale home prices in the Toronto region up 5.8 per cent to $843,115 year over year in September — the highest point so far in 2019. That average includes all housing types and condos.
A 22 per cent jump in the number of sales last month — 7,825 compared to 6,414 in September 2018 — still puts transactions below the 2016 peak but continues to outpace the number of new listings on the market, said the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) on Thursday.
That “speaks to tightening market conditions and an accelerating rate of price growth,” said the board in a press release.
September prices were up 1.2 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to August.
The price of a detached home in the Toronto area rose 4.1 per cent last month to $1.05 million on average. In the city of Toronto, a detached house sold for an average of $1.37 million compared to $946,256 in the 905 areas outside the city.
The biggest price gains in September occurred in the townhouse segment of the market, which saw a 6.8 per cent increase compared to September 2018 — with an average price of $677,387. Condo prices were 4.2 per cent higher than the same month last year with an average sale price of $595,013. In the 905 areas, condo prices rose 9.2 per cent year over year to $497,403 on average.
Pointing to detached home prices that have grown beyond the rate of inflation, the real estate board said many families are still targeting ground-level housing — townhomes, semi- and detached houses.
“This points to the need for greater diversity of housing types to bridge the gap between detached houses and condominium apartments,” said TREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.
The number of condos available for rent through the Multiple Listings Service in the Toronto region rose 30 per cent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The 10,800 condos that were rented in the third quarter was a 17.3 per cent rise year over year.
Rents on one-bedroom condos rose 4.5 per cent year over year in the third quart to $2,262 on average. Two-bedroom units rented for $2,941 on average, a 4.2 per cent increase over last year.
While the pace of rent growth has slowed, it remains double the rate of inflation, Mercer said.
“Steady condominium apartment completions coupled with strong average rent growth have prompted many investor-owners to list their units for rent. If growth in rental listings continues to outstrip growth in rental transactions for a sustained period, we could see a more balanced market in the future,” said TREB president Michael Collins.