The competition among homebuyers is increasing in the Toronto region even though year-over-year prices fell 6.6 per cent on average to $805,320 last month, from $862,149 in May 2017.
The number of resale home transactions declined 22.2 per cent in the same period.
Still, there are indications that the competition to buy a home is on the rise, supporting higher prices in the second half of the year and into early 2019, said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis for the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).
“Average selling prices were at or above average listing prices for all major home types in May,” he said in a press release.
New listings of homes were down 26.2 per cent year over year in May, said TREB. There were 19,022 new listings of resale homes in May compared to 25,764 in May 2017.
Seasonally adjusted figures show the average selling price was actually up 1.1 per cent in May compared to April.
Detached and semi-detached houses continued to see the steepest decline in sales compared to condos and townhouses.
The average detached house price fell 8.2 per cent in the Toronto region to $1.05 million, with the biggest drop in the communities surrounding Toronto, where there was a 9 per cent price drop compared to the same month last year. In the city of Toronto, detached house prices fell only 5.6 per cent.
The condo market continued to register an increase in prices, with the average unit costing $562,892, 5.7 per cent more than May last year. The city of Toronto saw the biggest condo price increase of 6.5 per cent, to an average cost of $602,804.
York Region is still suffering disproportionate price declines compared to the rest of the GTA. While the benchmark Home Price Index was down 5.4 per cent overall, the same indicator showed a 15.6 per cent drop in York. Detached house prices were down 17.5 per cent on the index.
Twenty-five per cent of respondents to an online Ipsos poll last month put housing affordability among their top two concerns in the upcoming provincial election. The poll that included 500 city of Toronto residents and 700 from 905-area communities also found that 35 per cent of respondents said their vote would take into account parties’ stances on housing.
Seventy-seven per cent of respondents supported reducing the provincial land transfer tax and 68 per cent wanted to see the tax repealed.
TREB and the Ontario Real Estate Association are lobbying provincial candidates against allowing municipalities outside the city of Toronto to levy their own land transfer taxes. Toronto got the power to issue its tax in 2008, essentially doubling the provincial levy for homebuyers moving in the city.
This year to date, the home price index shows the average price of a detached home has fallen 13.8 per cent in the Toronto region, while the average condo price is up 7 per cent.
The average GTA home price in 2017 was $822,622, including houses and condos.
TREB is also pushing for the province to increase the supply of housing in the Toronto area, particularly the type known as the “missing middle” — stacked townhouses and midrise apartments that can accommodate families and are more affordable than detached houses.
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