Greater Toronto Area home sales up in July from last year, listings jump

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in July were up from last year but down from a month earlier, while listings jumped.

The board says there were 5,391 homes sold in July in the Greater Toronto Area, a 3.3 per cent rise compared with the 5,220 homes sold in the same month a year earlier.

Sales worked out to a 1.7 per cent dip from June on a seasonally adjusted basis.

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New listings totalled 16,296, up 18.5 per cent from last year.

Listings growth outpaced sales on a year-over-year basis, but prices slipped only slightly to $1,106,617, down 0.9 per cent.

TRREB president Jennifer Pearce says the uptick in sales compared with last year is encouraging and a potential sign lower interest rates are starting to have an effect.

“We may be starting to see a positive impact from the two Bank of Canada rate cuts announced in June and July,” Pearce said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The cost of borrowing is anticipated to decline further in the coming months. Expect sales to accelerate as buyers benefit from lower monthly mortgage payments.”

The average detached home price in July was $1,425,927 for the GTA, while the average condo price was $718,698.

The composite benchmark price, which aims to represent typical homes, was down five per cent in July from a year earlier.