Home sales down 37 per centacross GTA, say new TREB numbers
http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2017/07/06/home-sales-down-37-per-cent-across-gta-report.html
numbers from theToronto Real Estate Board (TREB) offer an early glimpse at the impact of theprovince’s big move to keep the housing market under control.
Home sales in the GTA plummeted 37 per cent in June compared to the samemonth last year. There were 7,974 sales reported through TREB’s MLS system thisJune, compared to 12,794 in June 2016.
The numbers are only the second set of monthly TREB data released since theprovince announced its Fair Housing Plan.
Prices didn’t see the same dramatic dip. The average price for all hometypes across the GTA in June was $793,915, up 6.3 per cent from June 2016,though it was still far less than the year-over-year increases for April (up24.5 per cent to $920,791) and May (up 14.9 per cent to $863,910).
The number of new residential listings entered into TREB’s system — 19,614— was also up, 15.9 per cent compared to last June.
“We are in a period of flux that often followsmajor government policy announcements pointed at the housing market," saidTREB president Tim Syrianos in a press release.
“On one hand, consumer survey results tell us many households are veryinterested in purchasing a home in the near future, but some of these would-bebuyers seem to be temporarily on the sidelines waiting to see the real impactof the Ontario Fair Housing Plan,” he explained.
“On the other hand, we have existing home owners who are listing theirhome because they feel price growth may have peaked. The end result has been abetter supplied market and a moderating annual pace of price growth.”
The TREB report adjusted its forecast for sales in 2017 downward to between89,000 and 100,000, below the record level in 2016.
Ontario’s plan included a 15 per cent tax on non-resident buyers as well asexpanded rent control. The provincial government released its own numbers onforeign buyers Tuesday, indicating that they made up only about five per centof sellers in the Toronto and Golden Horsehoe Area in the month after the taxwas implemented.
The Fair Housing Plan also made it possible for Toronto to introduce a taxon people who own homes and let them sit empty — something council will discussat this week’s meeting.