The Stats are in - 2011 Was the Second-Best Year on Record for Sales! Here is what the Toronto Real Estate Board's Market Watch newsletter reports today:
Toronto, January 5, 2012 — Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,718
transactions through the Toronto MLS® system in December 2011. The December result capped off the second-best year on record under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries. Total sales for 2011 amounted to 89,347 – up four per cent in comparison to 2010. “Low borrowing costs kept Buyers confident in their ability to comfortably cover their mortgage payments along with other major housing costs,” said the TREB President. “If Buyers had not been constrained by a shortage of listings over the past 12 months, we would have been flirting with a new sales record in the Greater Toronto Area,”.
The average selling price in December was $451,436 – up four per cent compared to December 2010. For all of 2011, the average selling price was $465,412, an increase of eight per cent in comparison to the average of $431,276 in 2010.
“Months of inventory remained below the pre-recession norm in 2011. Very tight market conditions meant substantial competition between Buyers and strong upward pressure on selling prices,” said TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
“TREB’s baseline forecast for 2012 is for an average price of $485,000, representing a more moderate four per cent annual rate of price growth. This baseline view is subject to a heightened degree of risk given the uncertain global economic outlook,” continued Mercer.
If you have any real estate questions or would like to have an up-to-date market analysis prepared for your home, please don't hesitate to contact us. There is no cost to you and no obligation. We are very familiar with all Toronto's downtown neighbourhoods including all types of housing and condominiums. We look forward to hearing from you!
We concur with the outlook for 2012. Despite all of the financial challenges around the world, Canada and Toronto are doing especially well. The continued lack of housing available for sale is going to create competition and upward pressure on prices, although perhaps not as great as last year.
Happy 2012!
Sandra and Lina
p.s. look back to our prediction for 2011 - we were pretty accurate!