January 2022 Home Sales Dip from Last Year’s Record Result
The market outlook for 2022 is calling for strong home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with the average selling price expected to hit a new record. The latest polling conducted for the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) by Ipsos shows detached homes are on the top of the list for buyers while the percentage of first-time home buyers will likely drop this year. Meanwhile, January began the same way December ended with home sales down.
There were 5,636 sales reported through the TRREB MLS® System in January 2022 – down by 18.2 per cent compared to 6,888 sales in January 2021. While sales were down substantially compared last year’s record result, the January 2022 result was the second best in history for the month. This result is in line with TRREB’s forecast for a strong sales result in 2022, but off the 2021 record.
New listings were down by a similar annual rate (-15.5 per cent) as sales. Because sales and new listings moved in relative lockstep, active listings at the end of January amounted to 4,140 – down by 44 per cent to the lowest level in more than two decades.
The continuation of tight market conditions resulted in a 33.3 per cent annual increase in the MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark. Similarly, the average selling price was up by 28.6 per cent year-over-year to $1,242,793.
“It is clear that 2022 is starting off the way 2021 ended in terms of the relationship between demand and supply in the GTA housing market. We have provincial and municipal elections this year in Ontario. These are the levels of government whose policies impact real estate development the most. With this in mind, it will be very important for voters to understand exactly what parties and individuals vying for public office propose to do to alleviate the lack of inventory and housing choice in the GTA in the years to come,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.
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