October 17, 2018

October Mid-Month Sales See Short-Term Gains: REPORT

It’s that time of year – as the leaves start to fall, typically so do real estate sales. The “back-to-school” rush has passed and prospective home buyers are wrapping up their deals before the snow flies and the holidays set in.

That last-minute flurry of activity is reflected in generally stronger month-over-month sales than what was recorded during the same two weeks in September, though a surge of new listings of some home types made the market a mix of buyers’ conditions in the short term.

From a year-over-year perspective, sales are mostly flat, with slight increases in new listings across some home types.

Check out how sales and new listings for the first two weeks of October compare to the same time period last month, and in 2017, in the infographic below:

October Mid-Month Sales and New Listings

Detached Houses

Sales are roughly flat while listings are up from the same time period in 2017, thrusting both the City of Toronto and the TREB region as a whole into slightly softer buyers’ territory.

Sales activity rose just 1% in the 416 while newly-listed homes increased by 20% from last year, and fell into the negatives, at -3%, throughout TREB, juxtaposed by an 8% jump in listings.

The short-term picture is much stronger, however, with sales of Toronto houses up by 52% from the same two weeks in September and up by 14% throughout the TREB region. Month-over-month listings also decreased by 10% and 16%, respectively, pushing the market into slightly tighter conditions, though still well within buyers’ range.

Semi-Detached Houses

An uptick in sales, both from a month-over-month (47% in the 416 and 24% in TREB) and year-over-year (18% and 8%) perspective have been partially offset by a surge of new listings; however, the TREB region as a whole recorded a slight decrease from September, which made the market slightly more competitive in October.

Condo Apartments

Sales are up for both Toronto condos (2% y-o-y and 11% m-o-m) and in the TREB region (1% y-o-y and 5% m-o-m), with slightly more inventory (8% in both regions) added compared to the same time frame last year. However, from a month-over-month perspective, the number of new units fell 4%, leading to slightly tighter condo buying conditions.

Condo Townhouses

The number of units changing hands rose modestly – 2% -from last year in both the 416 and TREB along with new listings, which rose 16 and 4%, respectively.

However, Toronto townhouses are experiencing an especially strong October thus far, with sales rose 35% from the same two weeks in September, and new listings down 19%. In the TREB region as a whole, they’re down a slight 2%, though that decline is more than offset by a 14% plunge in new listings, keeping the market on the higher edge of buyers’ territory.