Toronto, Montreal markets red-hot in November

Home sales in Canada’s two largest cities remained strong in November, with sales surging by 24.3% in Toronto and by 32% in Montreal.

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) sales in Canada’s largest metropolitan region reached 8,766 last month, while the 5,343 total sales in Montreal set a November record, says the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB).

The GTA’s single-family housing market is noteworthy because, fuelled by historically low-interest rates, sales have been red-hot for the last few months. In November, there were 4,222 detached home sales in the region, increasing by 30.2% over November 2019, which brought the average price up by 15.2% to $1,202,281.

"Generally speaking, year-over-year growth in sales was stronger for single-family homes in the GTA regions surrounding the City of Toronto, but annual single-family growth rates remained robust in the ‘416’ area code as well. Homebuyers continued to take advantage of very low borrowing costs in November, especially those looking to buy some form of a single-family home. Competition between buyers for ground-oriented homes has been extremely strong in many neighbourhoods throughout the GTA, which has continued to support double-digit annual rates of price growth,” said Lisa Patel, TRREB’s president.

GTA condo sales increased by 7.1% year-over-year in November to 2,032, but, because new listings nearly doubled, the average sale price declined by 2% to $605,863. In the City of Toronto, sales marginally increased by 0.8% to 1,375, but the average price fell by 3% to $640,208. Conversely, condo sales in the 905 region rose by 23.3% to 657 sales, with the average sale price jumping 4.8% to $533,984.

Single-family home sales in the Montreal CMA increased by 31% to 2,761 in November from a year earlier, with the median price growing 23% to $435,000 from $352,500 in November 2019. Houses in this segment also sold in only 37 days compared with 58 a year ago.

Montreal’s condo market saw sales jump by 31% to 1,974 transactions last month from 1,504 in November 2019, while the median selling price increased by 9% to $316,000 from $290,000. Condos took an average of 44 days to sell, which is down from 69 recorded in November 2019.

“We also saw a historic 57% increase in the number of new condominium listings on the Island of Montreal, the highest level since the year 2000 when the real estate brokers’ Centris system began compiling market data,” said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at the QPAREB.