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Here is a chart that shows a breakdown of what homes in the Greater Toronto Area sold for in the month of January 2010.
With mortgage rates near all time lows and the majority of sales falling within the $200,000 – $300,000 range, it is clear that there is still plenty of affordable housing in the Greater Toronto Area!
TORONTO, February 3, 2010 — Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,986 transactions through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in January 2010. This result represented a large increase over the 2,670 sales in January 2009 when the home sales were in a recessionary trough. Last month’s sales were slightly higher than the January average in the five years preceding 2009.
“The GTA housing market has rebounded well from the lows in sales experienced at the beginning of 2009. Sales climbed back to healthy levels across the GTA because the cost of home ownership remained affordable in the Toronto area,” said TREB President Tom Lebour. “Increasingly confident consumers moved to take advantage of affordable home ownership.”
The average home selling price in January 2010 climbed 19 per cent to $409,058, compared to 343,632 in the same month last year.
“Expect strong annual growth rates for existing home sales and average price through the first quarter as we continue to make comparisons to the weak market conditions at the beginning of 2009,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The rate of sales and price growth will be lower in the second half of 2010.”
It’s an age-old truism that actions speak louder than words. This is especially true when it comes to government, which may be why it came to mind last month when Toronto City Council committed to finalizing a 10 year action plan on affordable housing. While it is encouraging that the City is talking about the importance of affordable housing, its words should be measured against its actions, which, unfortunately, have included numerous increases to the costs faced by home owners and buyers.
If you are a regular reader of this column, you will know that REALTORS® have numerous concerns with recent decisions made at Toronto City Hall. With that said, the City’s decision makers do deserve credit for the work done on their Affordable Housing strategy so far. Although this strategy has yet to be finalized, its preliminary draft recognizes that encouraging and facilitating home ownership is as important as creating and maintaining rental housing. REALTORS® strongly believe that home ownership is a critical part to personal wealth, economic prosperity, and a high quality of life.
