GTA home, condo sales reach new heights in February

Record home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) continued in February as buyers remained confident in their employment situations and took advantage of ultra-low borrowing costs.

With multiple buyers continuing to compete for many available listings, double-digit annual price growth was the norm throughout the GTA, with stronger rates of growth in the suburbs surrounding the City of Toronto.

GTA REALTORS® reported 10,970 sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in February 2021 – a 52.5 per cent increase compared to 7,193 sales reported in February 2020. Looking at all areas of the GTA combined, the condominium apartment segment led the way with a 64 per cent sales increase compared to last year, with similar rates of increase in the ‘416’ and ‘905’ area codes.

“It’s clear that the historic demand for housing experienced in the second half of last year has carried forward into the first quarter of this year with some similar themes, including the continued popularity of suburban low-rise properties. It’s also evident that the supply of listings is not keeping up with demand, which could present an even larger problem once population growth picks up following widespread vaccinations later this year and into 2022,” said TRREB President Lisa Patel.

The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 14.8 per cent year-over-year in February 2021. Over the same period, the average selling price was up by 14.9 per cent to $1,045,488. While market conditions were tight throughout the GTA region in February, the detached, semi-detached and townhouse market segments in suburban areas were the drivers of average price growth, with annual rates of increase above 20 per cent in all three cases.

“In the absence of a marked uptick in inventory, the current relationship between demand and supply supports continued double-digit average home price growth this year. In addition, if we continue to see growth in condo sales outstrip growth in new condo listings in Toronto, renewed price growth in this market segment is a distinct possibility in the second half of the year,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

“The pandemic has not stunted GTA residents’ appetite for owning a home. Once the economy opens further and immigration into the GTA resumes, there will be an even greater need for housing supply. Understandably, COVID-19 has been front and centre for policymakers. However, it will be important to build upon the proactive work already started by local and provincial governments to promote the development of a more diverse and affordable housing supply in our region,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.

Summary of TRREB MLS® System Sales and Average Price February 1–28, 2021
  2021 2020
  Sales Average Price New Listings Sales Average Price New Listings
City of Toronto (“416”) 3,741 995,201 4,706 2,457 988,795 3,520
Rest of GTA (“905”) 7,229 1,071,512 10,431 4,736 869,337 7,098
GTA 10,970 1,045,488 15,137 7,193 910,142 10,618

 

TRREB MLS® System Sales & Average Price by Home Type February 1–28, 2021
  Sales Average Price
  416 905 Total 416 905 Total
             
Detached 915 4,028 4,943 1,684,073 1,300,853 1,371,791
Yr./Yr. % Change 29.8% 47.4% 43.8% 13.2% 27.8% 23.1%
Semi-Detached 295 682 977 1,324,244 932,551 1,050,820
Yr./Yr. % Change 64.8% 48.6% 53.1% 9.7% 25.6% 20.3%
Townhouse 341 1,500 1,841 913,037 845,518 858,025
Yr./Yr. % Change 49.6% 65.7% 62.5% 7.8% 20.3% 17.3%
Condo Apartment 2,167 949 3,116 676,837 563,587 642,346
Yr./Yr. % Change 63.2% 66.8% 64.3% -6.4% 5.4% -3.7%
 

February 2021 Year-Over-Year Per Cent Change in the MLS® HPI

  Composite (All Types) Single-Family Detached Single-Family Attached Townhouse Apartment
TRREB Total 14.81% 21.22% 19.90% 14.48% 1.38%
Halton Region 21.62% 25.51% 26.19% 18.37% 10.85%
Peel Region 15.62% 19.16% 20.12% 14.41% 3.70%
City of Toronto 6.04% 15.00% 12.77% 9.64% -0.40%
York Region 17.16% 20.23% 20.15% 11.04% 5.39%
Durham Region 28.91% 28.92% 31.93% 29.13% 17.24%
Orangeville 23.71% 24.12% 27.56%
South Simcoe County1  

35.28%

 

30.71%

 

26.89%

 

 

Source: Toronto Regional Real Estate Board

1South Simcoe includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Essa, Innisfil and New Tecumseth

 

 

Year-to-Date Summary of TRREB MLS® System Sales and Average Price YTD 2021
  2021 2020
  Sales Average Price New Listings Sales Average Price New Listings
City of Toronto (“416”) 6,402 941,558 8,258 4,050 946,047 6,155
Rest of GTA (“905”) 11,478 1,056,574 16,317 7,689 848,629 12,311
GTA 17,880 1,015,392 24,575 11,739 882,238 18,466

 

YTD TRREB MLS® System Sales & Average Price by Home Type YTD 2021
  Sales Average Price
  416 905 Total 416 905 Total
             
Detached 1,436 6,264 7,700 1,646,335 1,303,558 1,367,484
Yr./Yr. % Change 29.8% 42.7% 40.1% 14.1% 31.0% 26.0%
Semi-Detached 457 1,024 1,481 1,281,923 921,325 1,032,596
Yr./Yr. % Change 71.2% 43.6% 51.1% 12.8% 25.6% 22.4%
Townhouse 600 2,362 2,962 870,457 828,908 837,325
Yr./Yr. % Change 48.1% 57.0% 55.2% 6.3% 20.4% 16.9%
Condo Apartment 3,867 1,716 5,583 654,047 556,408 624,037
Yr./Yr. % Change 72.2% 74.6% 72.9% -7.3% 5.1% -4.3%

Source: Toronto Regional Real Estate Board

 

Seasonally Adjusted TRREB MLS® System Sales and Average Price1
  Sales Month-Over-Month % Chg. Average Price Month-over-Month % Chg.
February ’20 8,730 22.4% $900,194 2.9%
March ’20 6,859 -21.4% $894,512 -0.6%
April ’20 2,384 -65.2% $790,070 -11.7%
May ’20 3,629 52.2% $827,628 4.8%
June ’20 6,459 78.0% $904,263 9.3%
July ’20 9,338 44.6% $951,327 5.2%
August ’20 10,455 12.0% $981,773 3.2%
September ’20 10,051 -3.9% $953,073 -2.9%
October ’20 9,771 -2.8% $957,758 0.5%
November ’20 9,399 -3.8% $966,167 0.9%
December ’20 11,370 21.0% $978,428 1.3%
January ’21 11,719 3.1% $1,009,571 3.2%
February ’21 13,582 15.9% $1,032,608 2.3%
Source: Toronto Regional Real Estate Board; CREA Seasonal Adjustment
1 Preliminary seasonal adjustment undertaken by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Removing normal seasonal variations allows for more meaningful analysis of monthly changes and underlying trends.

 

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