Home sales continue to slide in Toronto's real estate market.
The Greater Toronto Area recorded 1,991 home sales during the first half of November 2008, a 44% decline from the 3,544 sales during the same period last year. Prices appear to have stabilized with the average price for a home in the GTA dropping 4.5% to $375,712. Prices in the 905 region remained virtually unchanged over last year while prices in the city of Toronto dropped by 7.5% over last year.
As I've noted in previous posts, the decline in average price for the city of Toronto is exaggerated because of the effects of the land transfer tax last year.
‘It’s particularly important to interpret the 416 area statistics in context given the market surge we saw a year ago when buyers moved to avoid the new Toronto Land Transfer Tax,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ms. O’Neill. “At midmonth a year ago, transactions in the 416 area had increased 24 per cent over the same period in 2006.”
