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Return of the spring rush? Toronto home sales jump in April
5/6/2019 | Posted in Toronto Real Estate by Paul DeAdder | Back to Main Blog Page
This year, April showers brought rising home sales.
The Greater Toronto Area's housing market saw an early spring sales surge last month, in the latest sign of sharp divergence between the country's two most-scrutinized real estate hubs.
Sales across the GTA rose 16.8 per cent year-over-year in April as 9,042 properties traded hands, according to data released by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) Monday.
Selling activity picked up across all property types, with detached home sales rising at the fastest rate (21.9 per cent). The average selling price across the GTA for those detached properties slipped in April, while the average selling price for all properties inched up 1.9 per cent year-over-year to $820,148.
The sales spike in Toronto stands in stark contrast to the Greater Vancouver Area’s housing market, where sales tumbled 29.1 per cent year-over-year last month.
Nevertheless, Toronto's real estate board on Monday took another swipe at the stress tests for uninsured homebuyers that took effect at the start of last year, and weighed down housing markets in the process.
"While sales were up year-over-year in April, it is important to note that they remain well below April levels for much of the past decade," said TREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer in a release. "Many potential homebuyers arguably remain on the sidelines as they reassess their options in light of the OSFI-mandated two percentage point stress test on mortgages."
Source: Bloomberg
