Toronto Real Estate Market Remains Strong

There may be widespread economic concerns around the world, Toronto’s housing market remains strong.

The average price of a house in the GTA in October is now $478,137, up almost 8 per cent from $443,633 at this time last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Board.

We continue to see optimistic homebuyers buoyed by continuing low interest rates and Canada’s resiliency through the global economic crisis.

The only slight downturn appears to be in the high-end market — homes listed for more than $2 million — where both buyers and sellers tend to be more heavily employed in sectors with closer ties to global stock markets.

While a substantive increase in new listings has helped ease the bidding wars and upward pressure on prices that we saw in the spring market, competition remains fierce in some prime neighbourhoods.

Almost 400,000 homes have changed hands via the MLS system in Canada so far this year, up 1.8 per cent from the same period last year. The average price nationally for a home stood at $362,899, up 5.5 per cent from October 2010.