Home sales in the Toronto, Canada, market dropped for the fourth straight month in September, while prices increased, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported Wednesday.
The 6,622 sales recorded through the TorontoMLS system last month were 10 percent below the 7,326 sales in September 2005, according to TREB, and were down 5 percent from August 2006.
The average price of an existing home in the metro area registered $349,142 last month, up 5 percent from the $335,334 recorded last September, and up from $338,192 in August 2006.
“We are still seeing healthy sales levels consistent with a housing market that is in very good shape,” said TREB President Dorothy Mason. “Prices are increasing steadily and demand is based on real need. …”
Despite the overall cooling, two neighborhoods reported double-digit annual sales gains, TREB reported. In Toronto’s east end, Guildwood/Scarborough Village showed 37 percent more overall transactions than the previous September, as condominium sales in the area nearly doubled from the year before. In North York City Centre West/Willowdale, a 27 percent year-over-year jump in overall transactions was recorded in September, with detached-home sales contributing strongly to the increase.
TREB reported 15,326 new single-family listings added to the market last month, bringing the total number of active listings to 26,363, up 15 percent from the year-ago level of 22,860, and up considerably from 24,031 in August.
