More signs the Toronto housing market is cooling off

The Toronto Star
Published On Thu Aug 5 2010
By Tony Wong

Business Reporter Home sales in the Toronto market are cooling rapidly off in the second half of the year, with a 34 per cent drop in July compared to a year earlier.

This is the third consecutive month of falling sales, according to figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board today.

In June, sales had dipped by 23 per cent. But this has been the steepest drop yet, with sales dipping to 6,564 in July compared with 9,967 a year earlier.

“The level of July sales remained below the expected long term trend. The market has become more balanced,” said TREB president Bill Johnston.

Total sales through the first seven months are still up by 12 per cent, thanks to record sales during the first half of the year.

The average price for July transactions was $420,482, representing a six per cent increase over last year.

Meanwhile, building permit figures for Toronto released by Statistics Canada today also show that developers are less bullish about the housing market moving forward.

Building permits in the Toronto area fell by 15.3 per cent in June over May thanks to a drop in residential building intentions in both the single detached and high rise segments. Non-residential buildings such as commercial and industrial projects showed an increase, but not enough to offset the drop in residential permits.