February 2017 showed that home ownership is still considered as a great long-term investment by many Greater Toronto Area households. In this month, REALTORS® reported 8,014 residential sales - this result was up on a year-over-year basis by 5.7 per cent compared to 7,583 sales reported last year. Toronto Real Estate Board President Larry Cerqua talks more about the home-ownership:

The high demand for ownership housing we’re seeing is broad-based, with strong sales growth for most low-rise home types and condominium apartments. This makes sense given the results of a recent consumer survey undertaken for TREB by Ipsos, which found an even split between intending first-time buyers and existing homeowners who indicated that they were planning on purchasing a home in 2017.

Although this demand for home ownership grew over the past year, new listings entered into TREB's MLS® System in February were down on a year-over-year basis by 12.5 per cent to 9,834. Annual rates of price growth continued to be strongest for low-rise home types, particularly detached houses, with the average selling price up by 27.7 per cent. Growth rates for condominium apartment prices were also in the double digits, likely a result of strong demand from first-time buyers. Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis talks about what to expect:

The listing supply crunch we are experiencing in the GTA has undoubtedly led to the double-digit home price increases we are now experiencing on a sustained basis, both in the low-rise and high-rise market segments. Until we see a marked increase in the number of homes available for sale, expect very strong annual rates of price growth to continue.