Toronto home sales break record

Strong March home sales figures help push Q1 transactions to record high

Strong March home sales figures help push Q1 transactions to record high.

There were 10,326 sales in March and 22,575 sales in the first quarter, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.

“At the beginning of 2016, TREB’s outlook for the year pointed to a strong possibility of a second consecutive record year for home sales,” Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean said in a release. “This outlook was based, in part, on upbeat consumer survey results pointing to robust home buying intentions.  It is clear that these upbeat intentions have translated into record first quarter results.”

However, while sales hit highs, listings slumped.

“Demand was clearly not an issue in the first three months of 2016, regardless of the housing market segment being considered.  The supply of listings, however, continued to aggravate many would-be home buyers,” Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, said. “We could have experienced even stronger sales growth were it not for the constrained supply of listings, especially in the low-rise market segments. 

“The resulting strong competition between buyers has underpinned the double-digit rates of price growth experienced so far this year.”