Toronto real estate group: 2016 could set sales record year, prices still rising

TORONTO – The Toronto Real Estate Board expects home sales in Canada’s largest city will be strong in 2016 and may set a record.

TREB estimates its member realtors will sell between 96,500 and 105,000 residential properties this year — either just above or just below last year’s record high of 101,229 transactions.

The average selling price is also expected to rise to between $655,000 and $665,000 — one of the highest in Canada — up from $622,217, which was up 9.8 per cent from 2014.

The Greater Toronto Area and other parts of southern Ontario experienced stronger demand than most Canadian markets last year— outdone only by parts of British Columbia in the Greater Vancouver and Lower Mainland areas

TREB’s director of market analysis, Jason Mercer, said Monday that that whether 2016 will mark another record high will depend on the direction of borrowing costs and the availability of property listings.

He said research done for TREB by Ipsos Reid suggests that only a small percentage of buyers will be affected by tighter mortgage lending rules announced by the federal government in December.