Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Toronto home sales fall for fourth month, plunge 40 pct y/y in July

Published 2017-08-03, 07:00 a/m
Updated 2017-08-03, 07:00 a/m
© Reuters.  Toronto home sales fall for fourth month, plunge 40 pct y/y in July

© Reuters. Toronto home sales fall for fourth month, plunge 40 pct y/y in July

OTTAWA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Toronto home sales plummeted in July from a year earlier and prices were down nearly 19 percent from April as government moves to cool a long housing boom in Canada's largest city spooked buyers, data showed on Thursday.

Sales in Toronto fell 40.4 percent last month from a year ago, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) said in a report. It was the fourth straight month of declining sales after a years-long boom sparked fears of a bubble.

While prices were up 18.1 percent compared with a year earlier, according to the group's home price index, they were down 4.6 percent from June as demand dropped and the number of new listings rose again, TREB said.

The average selling price for all home types combined was C$746,218 ($592,990), up just 5.0 percent from last year, and down 18.8 percent from a peak of C$919,449 in April.

The Ontario government introduced a number of measures in late April, including a foreign buyers tax, in a bid to cool the housing market in Toronto and the surrounding areas amid fears of a bubble. most data has shown foreign buyers represent only a small portion of buyers in Toronto, the government move sparked a shift in sentiment, TREB said.

"Clearly, the year-over-year decline (in sales) we experienced in July had more to do with psychology, with would-be home buyers on the sidelines waiting to see how market conditions evolve," the real estate board's president, Tim Syrianos, said in a statement.

New listings rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier.

The dramatic shift in the Toronto market comes as the Bank of Canada has begun what most analysts believe will be a gradual process of raising interest rates from near historic lows. The central bank raised its key rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent in July and markets expect at least one more hike before the end of the year, likely in October. BOCWATCH

Some experts have said low rates have encouraged consumers to take on too much debt and fueled the housing boom.

($1 = 1.2584 Canadian dollars)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.