By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 7, 2014
Average price of single home in Toronto shoots up 13% to $965,000
It’s a record likely to be shattered by summer: The average sale price of a detached home in the City of Toronto hit $965,670 in April.
That number is expected to exceed $1 million over the coming weeks as the GTA continues to feel the effects of a shortage of new listings that helped drive up the average price of detached homes in the 416 region by 13.2 per cent from April of 2013.
The average sale price of home in the GTA — taking into account everything from detached homes to semis, townhouses and condos — hit $577,898 last month, according to figures released Tuesday by the Toronto Real Estate Board.
Sales were up just 1.8 per cent, year over year.
Leading the real estate pack in terms of price growth were semi-detached houses. The average sale price across the GTA was up 11.6 per cent over April 2013. The 18 per cent jump in prices just in the City of Toronto sent the average sale price of a semi to $702,332, according to the TREB figures.
Next in line were detached homes, where prices were up 11.3 per cent across the GTA — 9.6 per cent in the 905, where the average sale price was $645,179 in April.
Active listings, however, even for the first month of peak spring market, were down 8.4 per cent, a persistent problem that has been driving intense competition and significant price growth, largely in 416 neighbourhoods close to the core and transit lines.
TREB president Dianne Usher blamed Toronto’s double land transfer tax for the fact that more folks are choosing to stay put and renovate rather than sell.
As well, “above-trend home sales in the years leading up to the recession have meant that many households who purchased during this period simply aren’t ready to move again.”
But also skewing the numbers is the desperation of buyers, frantic to get into the Toronto market before prices shoot further out of sight.
One house, in North Toronto, reached a ludicrous new level in late April when 72 people — double the previous record for a bidding war for a house in the 416 region — registered offers on a Glencairn Ave. fixer-upper. (Source: Toronto Star)