Toronto Real Estate Market Update – June 2014

June’s market performance was not as strong as May’s (11,049), but with 10,180 residential properties reports sold it was much stronger than June 2013. Last year only 8,821 properties were reported sold. This June the 10,180 properties sold by Toronto and surrounding area REALTORS® exceeded last year’s performance by 15.4 percent. June’s results represent the second strongest month this year to date.

With strong numbers in reported sales, the average sale price for properties sold in the greater Toronto area continued to be well above last year’s average sale price, although not as strong as the record setting $585,454 monthly average sale price for May. Generally, monthly average sale price declines in June, July, and August. This year was no exception. The average sale price came in at $568,953, lower than May’s by almost $20,000, but almost 7 percent higher than the $529,614 average sale price achieved in June of 2013.

The pace of sales remained strong in June. All properties, on average sold in 21 days, only one day slower than results in May, and 2 days, or 8.3 percent, faster than sales in June 2013. As was the case in May, all reported properties sold (on average) sold for at least their asking price. In the City of Toronto all properties sold (on average) for 101 percent of their asking price. This number was substantially higher in the case of detached and semi-detached properties: Condominium apartment sales were neither as fast, nor at a number approaching their asking price, yet frothy nonetheless.

It was not surprising that the number of high-end properties reported sold declined dramatically from May (properties having a sale price of $ 1 Million or more). In May 946 properties were reported sold in this category. This was an all-time high. In June sales in this category slipped to 775, a decline of 18 percent. As the summer months arrive it is common to see sales at this price point decline as buyers and sellers focus on holidays, the end of school terms, and recreational properties.

The most expensive area to live in the greater Toronto area was Oakville. The average sale price of all properties sold there was $ 808,944. The average price in Toronto’s central districts came in at $ 726,072, but included 1,011 condominium apartment sales which dramatically reduced the average sale price. Detached homes in the central districts averaged $1,448,267. The average price of a detached home in Oakville in June was only $940,847.

The average price of semi-detached homes in Toronto ranged from a high of $839,786 in the central districts to a low of $559,905 in Toronto’s western trading areas. A buyer had to move quickly to find and buy a semi-detached house in Toronto. On average all semi-detached houses sold in an eye-popping 11 days, and even faster in Toronto’s popular eastern districts, particularly neighbourhoods like Riverdale, Leslieville, and the Beach.

As has been discussed in previous reports, condominium apartment sales, though strong, are not as frothy as detached and semi-detached sales. In the City of Toronto 1,578 condominium apartment sales were recorded in June. This represents a 21.4 percent increase compared to sales for the same period last year. Average sale prices also increased as compared to last year. The average sale price for a Toronto condominium apartment came in at $390,569, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to last year’s average sale price. Sales of Condominium apartments were slower than freehold sales (averaging 30 days with sale prices only 98 percent of asking price).

To date 48,758 properties have been reported sold in the greater Toronto area. At this pace sales for 2014 could come in as high as 95,000 residential properties. This would break the record of 93,193 properties reported sold in 2007. With no indication of a mortgage interest rate hike during the remainder of 2014, a new record for residential sales in the greater Toronto area has a strong possibility of being achieved.