Toronto real estate market showed a record year even with a restrained supply

Last year was extremely successful for Toronto’s real estate market.

According to the latest report by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), home sales in the GTA reached a record high level of 121,712 in 2021, exceeding the previous record of 113,040 sales seen in 2016 by 7.7%. In addition to it, the result is 28% higher than in 2020.

TRREB says there was a sales rebound in the City of Toronto compared to the suburbs in 2021. The largest gains were seen in the sector of urban condos.

The housing activity hike appeared amid an ongoing lack of supply, as the number of new listings was up by only 6.2% last year.

Such tight market conditions have pushed the average home price in the GTA up by 17.8% on a year-over-year basis to $1,095,475. This number may intensify concerns over Canada’s housing affordability crisis.

“The only sustainable way to restrain prices growth is increasing supply,” – says Jason Mercer from TRREB.

“History has shown that such demand-aimed policies, as additional taxes on principal residences, taxes for foreign buyers and small investors, have not led to long-term solutions to housing affordability or lack of supply.”

In December, the GTA market saw signs of a slowdown as the number of listings went down by 59% to 3,232.

Home sales were down almost by 16% last month from a year earlier with 6,031 transactions. All housing sectors in the city and the suburbs reported sales drops. The average home price in the GTA rose by 24.2% to $1,157,849 in December.