Central Toronto Housing Market Sends Mixed Signals

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Most of us are familiar with the most basic law of supply and demand which tells us that when supply goes up and demand goes down, prices can only travel in one direction … down! 
So much for economic theories! In central Toronto, three prime neighbourhoods recorded an increase in supply (homes for sale), a drop in demand (homes sold), but prices in all three areas still managed to climb!  

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported a decline of 13.1 per cent in sales in the first half of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007. The report also shows a jump of 9.1 per cent in the number of listings on the Multiple Listing Service, which is a record high from the first six months of last year.

Home sales were down across Canada by 20 percent with the exception of Newfoundland. While the decline in number of sales is similar in some of Toronto’s prime neighbourhoods, average sale prices continue their upward trend.

The largest price increase in these three neighbourhoods took place in Lawrence Park with a 19 per cent jump from April to July 2008, compared to the same period in 2007. Other areas such as Leaside showed a 7 per cent average sale price increase and Davisville Village recording a 5 percent.

All three areas experienced a decline in number of homes sold for the period April to July 2008 versus April to July 2007, with Leaside having the biggest drop of 28 percent.

Lawrence Park Home Sales

Davisville Village

Leaside