Toronto's scorching real estate market had another hot month in July, with sales hitting a new monthly record and prices continuing to soar, according to the most recent data from the Toronto Real Estate Board.
TREB says the average resale price of a home in the Greater Toronto Area climbed to $709,825 last month, up more than 16 per cent compared to a year ago.
The average price of a detached home soared even higher, up a whopping 21 per cent from July 2015 to $952,983, while the average price of a condo rose 9.2 per cent to $406,865.
Sales of homes also increased, with 9,989 dwellings changing hands in the Greater Toronto Area last month — the highest number ever recorded in July.
That's compared to 9,813 in July of last year.
Meanwhile, the number of new listings shrank roughly seven per cent to 13,542 last month compared to a year ago, reflecting what the real estate board calls a "troubling trend" as demand outpaces supply in the Toronto area.
The sales data comes as experts caution that a new 15 per cent tax aimed at foreign investors in Vancouver's real estate market could end up further driving up house prices in Toronto.
The B.C. government has introduced the tax, which took effect Tuesday, on foreign nationals who purchase properties in Metro Vancouver in the hopes of improving housing affordability.
Some realtors have voiced concerns that investors looking to dodge the tax could park their money in other areas of the country, particularly Toronto where prices are already sky-high.
"Housing policy is now top of mind for all levels of government," TREB president Larry Cerqua said in a statement Thursday.
"Policy makers need to be focusing on solutions to the sustained lack of low-rise inventory throughout the GTA."
