July is typically one of our quieter months in Toronto. Many people run off to the cottage or just soak in the rays here in the city. The activity in July reflect this as well as the sprint that a lot of sellers and buyers made prior to July 1st – HST implementation day. Unknown to many of these people was the fact that in fact it made no difference to Buyers of resale and a small difference to home resellers. It goes to show that eduction and a good advisor is important!
Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 6,564 sales in July – a 34 per cent dip from the record 9,967 sales reported in July 2009. New listings, at 10,825, dropped to the lowest level for the month of July since 2002.
“The level of July sales remained below the expected long-term trend. The market has become more balanced following record monthly sales through most of the winter and early spring,” said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Bill Johnston.
Total sales through the first seven months of 2010 were up 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2009. Notwithstanding the fact that price trends vary at the neighbourhood level in GTA, the average price for July transactions was $420,482, representing a six per cent increase over July 2009. Over the first seven months of 2010, the average selling price was up 12 per cent annually to $432,253.
“Market conditions promoting growth in the average selling price have remained in place. While July sales were down compared to last year, the number of new listings in the marketplace also fell. This means there was enough competition between buyers to exert upward pressure on price,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
In July, the median price was $361,000, from the $339,900 recorded during July of 2009.
