“The strong rebound in the existing home market was one of the initial drivers of economic recovery,” said TREB President Tom Lebour. “While we don’t expect to see the same rates growth moving forward, GTA households will remain confident in ownership housing as a quality long-term investment, especially as economic recovery expands across all industries.”

The annual rate of growth for new listings continued to accelerate in March. The number of new listings grew by 42 per cent compared to March of 2008.

“The average home price in the GTA will continue to grow this year, but the pace will slow as we move through the spring,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “As growth in new listings starts to outstrip growth in sales, buyers will experience more choice, resulting in more sustainable single digit rates of average price growth.”

Median Price
In March, the median price was $370,000, from the $317,500 recorded during March of 2009.

The chart above demonstrates Toronto sale prices and who’s buying.  Indicating that despite rising prices 59% of buyers are still in the under $400,000 range. The bulk of these will be first time buyers purchasing condos or lofts in the city.

17% are between $400-$500k and the balance of 24% make up the rest of the buyers in the city from $500k to approximately $10 million $.  That gives you a good idea of who our demograhic is in this city.

As interest rates rise a whole group of buyers will be knocked out of the market, this will cause some stalling in the market and could cause a small price drop, allowing more buyers to enter the market.  This benefits all the move up buyers.

Sales activity reached the highest level ever for the month of October. National resale housing activity had a record-breaking month with 45,818 units trading hands. This is up 45 percent compared to October 2008 and 74 percent above the decade low reached in January. Low interest rates, coupled with upbeat consumer confidence, continue to release pent-up demand from last year and early this year, boosting national sales activity.

Average Home Price

The national average home price reached new heights in October, rising 21 percent to $341,079 from the same month last year. A sustained increase in sales activity, including a sharp rebound in Canada’s priciest markets, continues to draw the national average home price upward.

Inventory

Sales-to-Listings Ratio

The number of new listings coming onto the market in October declined from year-ago levels for the tenth consecutive month. New listings fell 15 percent from October 2008 but inched up on a month-over-month basis to 65,148 units. According to CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump, “New listings are still expected to rise in the coming months in response to headline average price increases.” Nationally, there were 4.1 months of inventory in October. The sales-to-listings ratio was 70 percent, signaling a stronger seller’s market.

Mortgage Rates

Average for: 25-Year Amortization, 5-Year Term

A recently released study from the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals shows Canadians are benefiting from the lower interest rates. The average mortgage rate negotiated in the past year was 4.55 percent, down from 5.41 percent a year ago. In October, the 5-year conventional mortgage rate edged down to 5.59 percent, 1.61 percent lower than this time last year.