Inman

Toronto real estate sales pick up pace

The resale housing market in Toronto, Canada, posted a 2 percent increase in sales for the first half of July compared to the same period a year ago, the Toronto Real Estate Board announced today.

Realtors reported a total of 3,292 homes sold during the first half of July, up from 3,227 sales recorded in the first half of July 2004.

Year-to-date sales totals remained steady, with 2005 staying within 3 percent of 2004’s record numbers.

In the city of Toronto, the downtown East flourished in the first half of the month, showing a 36 percent increase in sales versus the same time period last year. West of the city, Northwest Cooksville, near Mississauga’s city centre, showed an increase of 50 percent compared with the first half of July 2004.

Increases in downtown Toronto and Mississauga can be attributed to condominium sales.

Another area displaying significant sales increases was the southern part of Richmond Hill, where all housing types were up evenly by 34 percent from the same timeframe a year ago.

TREB President John Meehan said that average home prices have stabilized this summer, sitting at $328,923 through the first half of the month, down 6 percent from the $349,461 recorded a month earlier.

The Toronto Real Estate Board serves more than 22,000 Realtors throughout the Greater Toronto area.

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