TORONTO, ONTARIO, September 6, 2018 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura
announced sales and price increases on a year-over-year basis in August. Greater Toronto Area
REALTORS® reported 6,839 sales through TREB’s MLS® System in August 2018 – an 8.5 per cent
increase compared to August 2017.
Both the average selling price, at $765,270, and the MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark for
August 2018 were up compared to the same month in 2017, by 4.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
The average selling price increased by more than the MLS® HPI Composite due, at least in part, to a
change in the mix of sales compared to last year. Detached home sales were up by double digits on a yearover-year
percentage basis – substantially more than many other less-expensive home types.
“It is encouraging to see a continued resurgence in the demand for ownership housing. Many home buyers
who had initially moved to the sidelines due to the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and new mortgage lending
guidelines have renewed their search for a home and are getting deals done much more so than last year.
In a region where the economy remains strong and the population continues to grow, ownership housing
remains a solid long-term investment,” said Mr. Bhaura.
Month-over-month sales and price growth also continued in August. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted
basis, August 2018 sales were up by two per cent compared to July 2018. The seasonally adjusted August
2018 average selling price was down slightly by 0.2 per cent compared to July 2018, following strong
monthly increases in May, June and July.
“Market conditions in the summer of 2018, including this past August, were tighter than what was
experienced in the summer of 2017. In August, the annual rate of sales growth outpaced the annual rate of
new listings growth. We only have slightly more than two-and-a-half months of inventory in the TREB
market area as a whole and less than two months of inventory in the City of Toronto. This means that
despite the fact the sales remain off the record highs from 2016 and 2017, many GTA neighbourhoods
continue to suffer from a lack of inventory. This could present a problem if demand continues to accelerate
over the next year, which is expected,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.