TORONTO, ONTARIO, May 6, 2019

 A substantial year-over-year increase in home sales in April 2019. The number of residential transactions jumped by 16.8 per cent to 9,042 compared to 7,744 in April 2018. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up 11.3 per cent compared to March 2019. New listings were also up year-over-year by eight per cent. However, the annual growth rate for new listings was much lower than that reported for sales. This suggests that market conditions continued to tighten which points toward an acceleration in price growth. “The strong year-over-year growth in sales is obviously a good news story and likely represents some catchup from a slow start to the year.

TREB’s sales outlook for 2019 anticipates an increase relative to 2018. It should be noted, however, that growth in new listings is not keeping pace with sales. This points to the ongoing housing supply issue in the GTA.
 The year-over-year rate of price growth generally edged up in April relative to the first three months of the year. The MLS® HPI Composite benchmark was up by 3.2 per cent – the highest rate of growth in more than a year. The average selling price was up by 1.9 per cent to $820,148, representing the strongest annual rate of growth so far in 2019. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, the average selling price was also up by 1.1 per cent compared to March 2019. Price growth continued to be driven by the condominium apartment segment and higher-density low-rise segments. The average price for detached houses dipped year-over-year, specifically in regions surrounding the City of Toronto. The detached market segment, with the highest price point on average, has arguably been hardest hit by measures such as the OSFI stress test. “While sales were up year-over-year in April, it is important to note that they remain well-below April levels for much of the past decade. Many potential home buyers arguably remain on the sidelines as they reassess their options in light of the OSFI-mandated two percentage point stress test on mortgages. Longer term borrowing costs have trended lower this year and the outlook for short-term rates, for which the Bank of Canada holds the lever, is flat to down this year.
 TREB MLS® Sales Activity 9,042 7,744 April 2019 April 2018 TREB MLS® Average Price $820,148 $804,926 April 2019 April 2018 Year-Over-Year Summary 2019 2018 % Chg. Sales New Listings Active Listings Average Price Average DOM* 9,042 7,744 16.8% 17,205 15,933 8.0% 18,037 18,206 -0.9% $820,148 $804,926 1.9% 19 20 -5.0% Sources and Notes: i - Statistics Canada, Quarter-over-quarter growth, annualized ii - Statistics Canada, Year-over-year growth for the most recently reported month iii - Bank of Canada, Rate from most recent Bank of Canada announcement iv - Bank of Canada, Rates for most recently completed month Real GDP Growth Q4 2018 0.4% Toronto Unemployment Rate March 2019 6.6% Inflation Rate (Yr./Yr. CPI Growth) March 2019 1.9% Bank of Canada Overnight Rate April 2019 -- 1.75% Prime Rate April 2019 -- 3.95% Economic Indicators Metrics Sales Average Price 416 905 Total 416 905 Total 2019 Detached Semi - Detached Townhouse Condo Apartment 982 3,191 4,173 $1,355,764 $914,249 $1,018,147 281 575 856 $1,051,765 $690,059 $808,796 344 1,193 1,537 $757,150 $626,826 $655,994 1,608 749 2,357 $637,181 $482,945 $588,168 Sales & Average Price