Real Estate Cheat Sheet: the average house price in Toronto is now over $800,000
In most of Canada, home prices are starting to stagnate (or even fall), suggesting that the country’s real estate market is finally starting to cool (the stricter mortgage regulations enacted by Jim Flaherty at the start of the summer seem to be taking effect). However, in Toronto, single-family detached homes continue to be the holy grail of real estate. This week, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported that the average price of a detached house has again moved north of $800,000 for the first time after dipping over the summer. So what gives? We break down the numbers, and what they mean.
• The average cost of a detached house in Toronto now exceeds $800,000 (it’s $805,308, to be exact), jumping 17 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to a mid-month report from TREB. That’s in keeping with what experts have been saying for months, namely that detached homes in Toronto are still highly coveted and in short supply.
• TREB says that higher prices, stricter lending guidelines and the land transfer tax have all made residents more reluctant to move. Instead, they are keeping their current homes and doing renovations, which means there are fewer homes for sale.
• It does bear stating that average house prices can be skewed if a certain segment of the market—say, luxury homes—isn’t moving in the same direction or at the same pace as the rest of the market. The Teranet-National Bank composite house price index, released earlier today, measures the change in price on repeat sales of single-family homes. It suggests that prices were up only 8.3 per cent in Toronto over last year—still an increase, but not as eyebrow-raising as the TREB number.
• According to TREB, the average price of a condo in Toronto was up just five per cent, to $352,851, which also fits with signs (and pundit predictions) of a slowing in the condo market. Overall, the average selling price for all types of homes in Toronto was $536,128, up 16 per cent.
• In the 905, the average price of a detached single-family home was $563,739—a smaller jump of six per cent compared to mid-September 2011. For condos, the average price actually dropped 2 per cent, to $287,467.
• GTA Realtors Release Mid-Month Resale Figures [TREB]
• Average Toronto home price hits $800,000 [Toronto Star]
• ‘Average’ house prices don’t tell the whole story [CBC]
• Canadian home resale prices up slightly in August [Montreal Gazette]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/real-estate/detached-homes-average-price-800000/&title=Real Estate Cheat Sheet: the average house price in Toronto is now over $800,000&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/condohouse.jpeg&description=[caption id="attachment_167031" align="alignright" width="240"] (Image: Jeremy Burgin)[/caption]
In most of Canada, home prices are starting to stagnate (or even fall), suggesting that the country’s real estate market is finally starting to cool (the stricter mortgage regulations enacted by Jim Flaherty at the start of the summer seem to be taking effect). However, in Toronto, single-family detached homes continue to be the holy grail of real estate. This week, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported that the average price of a detached house has again moved north of $800,000 for the first time after dipping over the summer. So what gives? We break down the numbers, and what they mean.
• The average cost of a detached house in Toronto now exceeds $800,000 (it’s $805,308, to be exact), jumping 17 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to a mid-month report from TREB. That’s in keeping with what experts have been saying for months, namely that detached homes in Toronto are still highly coveted and in short supply.
• TREB says that higher prices, stricter lending guidelines and the land transfer tax have all made residents more reluctant to move. Instead, they are keeping their current homes and doing renovations, which means there are fewer homes for sale.
• It does bear stating that average house prices can be skewed if a certain segment of the market—say, luxury homes—isn’t moving in the same direction or at the same pace as the rest of the market. The Teranet-National Bank composite house price index, released earlier today, measures the change in price on repeat sales of single-family homes. It suggests that prices were up only 8.3 per cent in Toronto over last year—still an increase, but not as eyebrow-raising as the TREB number.
• According to TREB, the average price of a condo in Toronto was up just five per cent, to $352,851, which also fits with signs (and pundit predictions) of a slowing in the condo market. Overall, the average selling price for all types of homes in Toronto was $536,128, up 16 per cent.
• In the 905, the average price of a detached single-family home was $563,739—a smaller jump of six per cent compared to mid-September 2011. For condos, the average price actually dropped 2 per cent, to $287,467.
• GTA Realtors Release Mid-Month Resale Figures [TREB]
• Average Toronto home price hits $800,000 [Toronto Star]
• ‘Average’ house prices don't tell the whole story [CBC]
• Canadian home resale prices up slightly in August [Montreal Gazette]){kind=link}
Please note that the title of this article is misleading – it is suggesting that the average price for a Toronto home is over $800k when in fact this price refers to detached homes only in the article.
Hopefully this omission in the title was an oversight instead of an attempt at sensationalism. :-)
Best,
Suzy
Sloppy work. The average detached home in 416 passed $800,000 in the Spring of 2012, fell back to $746,000 in August and edged back above $800,000 in early September.
Therefore this is no milestone. Additionally, sales fell by 12.5%, which is more significant.
This is what you get your a Toronto Life ‘journalist’ scalps a Toronto Star story written by an industry shill.
Garth Turner
Correction:
This is what you get when a Toronto Life ‘journalist’ scalps a Toronto Star story written by an industry shill.
oh, you go garth! let ’em have it
Please do the readers of your fine publication a favour and explain that “average price” is NOT the same as the “average value” even if you were talking about a small area let alone the City of Toronto made up of 140 neighbourhoods. The subject TREB report reflects sales for a small period of time (in the case of mid-month stats, only 2 weeks). Value represents the price the consumer would pay for a specific home in a specific location at a given moment in time. The problem is that most readers think “average price” means value and assume they just gained or lost money (equity) on their home. This is classic “Apples and Oranges”. You can do better.
The article does not indicate that the closer to downtown Toronto you get, it’s the higher end of the price of detached homes. Around College Street (Little Italy) there’s a middle row house on a lot that’s 83′ x 16′, there’s no access to the backyard (being a middle unit) and the asking price is $700,000. Compare that to the article’s average price of $800,000 in “Toronto” but it is certainly doesn’t represent current pricing in downtown Toronto. As more and more condos are built and land is getting scarcer, the actual plot of land that on which a detached home sits gets more valuable as this situation continues. It’s the principle of supply and demand on available detached homes. “Holy Grail” of housing isn’t cheap, the price goes up as the supply diminishes.