Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area have rebounded in a big way after a brutal slump, increasing nearly 30 per cent since last June and heralding the return of a seller's market.
The Toronto Real Estate Board reports that this was the best June on record, with 10,955 single-family homes sold last month, and the average price hitting $403,972 - up 2 per cent from the same month last year.
"A lot of places are getting multiple offers," said Toronto real-estate broker John Pasalis. "It definitely is a heated market right now."
University professor Sharon Sliwinski has been house-hunting since mid-June and is already frustrated with the crowded market.
"There was a place in Leslieville I was speechless about, it was really great," Ms. Sliwinski said. "I was at the house and it wasn't even an open-house day, but there was a constant rotation of people coming through to see it."
When Ms. Sliwinski learned there were already six bids on the home, she didn't bother to put in her own offer. She also lost out on a house just north of High Park.
"I even made a healthy offer of $25,000 over the asking price," Ms. Sliwinski said.
"Anything that shows well is gone right away."
Mr. Pasalis said last fall's economic tailspin spooked many would-be home buyers, driving down December's home sales to just 2,577. But now, buyers are coming back to the market in droves, encouraged by low interest rates.
"I don't think anybody really expected the real-estate market in Toronto to turn around so quickly," Mr. Pasalis said.
Royal LePage real-estate broker Eugenia Evans said there are fewer deals to be had in the stronger market, but more buyers are looking to less-expensive areas like the Junction near Dundas and Keele.
There have been fewer homes for sale as owners waited for prices to bounce back, but Mr. Pasalis predicts more homeowners will opt to sell over the next few months.
"I think demand will go down significantly as we move into the fall," Mr. Pasalis said.
Jason Mercer, a real-estate-board market analyst, says he expects the 416 and 905 areas to have comparable growth rates through the second half of the year, with Brampton and Toronto's condo-rich waterfront boasting the biggest sales numbers in June.
