Toronto Real Estate Board issued the following announcement on June 4.

Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,834 sales through TREB's MLS® System in May 2018. This result was down by 22.2 per cent compared to May 2017. While the number of sales was down year-over-year, the annual rate of decline was less than reported in February, March and April, when sales were down by more than 30 per cent. On a month-over-month basis, seasonally adjusted May sales were basically flat compared to April.1

Supply of homes available for sale continued to be an issue. New listings were down by 26.2 per cent. The fact that new listings were down by more than sales in comparison to last year means that competition increased between buyers. Recent polling conducted by Ipsos for TREB suggests that listing intentions are down markedly since the fall.

"Home ownership remains a sound long-term investment. Unfortunately, many home buyers are still finding it difficult find a home that meets their needs. In a recent Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis study undertaken for the Toronto Real Estate Board, it was found that many people are over-housed in Ontario, with over five million extra bedrooms. These people don't list their homes for sale, because they feel there are no alternative housing types for them to move into. Policy makers need to focus more on the 'missing middle' – home types that bridge the gap between detached houses and condominium apartments," said Tim Syrianos, TREB President.

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was down by 5.4 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price for all home types combined was down by 6.6 per cent to $805,320. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average selling price was up by 1.1 per cent compared to April 2018.1

"Market conditions are becoming tighter in the Greater Toronto Area and this will provide support for home prices as we move through the second half of 2018 and into 2019. There are emerging indicators pointing toward increased competition between buyers, which generally leads to stronger price growth. In the City of Toronto, for example, average selling prices were at or above average listing prices for all major home types in May," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis.

Housing Issues Important to Voters

TREB is releasing the results, today, of a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs regarding issues relevant to the upcoming provincial election.

"Housing and real estate issues are top of mind for many Ontario and GTA voters, and they often turn to their REALTOR® for opinions on these matters. That's why we think it's important to help shine the spotlight on these issues during the provincial election campaign," said Tim Syrianos, TREB President.

The poll, conducted by on-line survey of 1200 GTA residents (500 in 416 and 700 in 905) between May 18 and May 22, 2018, found that,

Among 9 listed issues (health care, government spending/balancing budget, taxes, housing affordability, energy costs, economy, transportation/traffic, environment/climate change, enhancing social programs), 25% of GTA residents rank housing affordability in their top two most-important issues for the Ontario election campaign;

69% agree (35% strongly/34% somewhat) that a party's platform on housing affordability will influence who they vote for on election day;

Nearly six in ten (56%) of GTA residents believe that government policies should focus equally on increasing the supply of housing and reducing the demand of housing; few believe that they should only be focused on reducing demand;

77% of GTA residents support reducing the provincial land transfer tax and 68% support repealing this tax completely.

Summary of TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price

May 1 - 31, 2018

2018

2017

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

City of Toronto ("416")

3,092

861,970

6,306

3,886

899,980

8,433

Rest of GTA ("905")

4,742

768,381

12,716

6,180

838,361

17,331

GTA

7,834

805,320

19,022

10,066

862,149

25,764

TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price By Home Type

May 1 - 31, 2018

Sales

Average Price

416

905

Total

416

905

Total

Detached

782

2,562

3,344

1,426,094

929,401

1,045,553

Yr./Yr. % Change

-30.4%

-27.9%

-28.5%

-5.6%

-9.0%

-8.2%

Semi-Detached

242

405

647

1,067,128

665,628

815,803

Yr./Yr. % Change

-30.1%

-28.9%

-29.4%

0.3%

-2.3%

-1.2%

Townhouse

303

997

1,300

741,296

609,923

640,543

Yr./Yr. % Change

-17.2%

-12.2%

-13.4%

-0.1%

-3.1%

-2.5%

Condo Apartment

1,745

648

2,393

602,804

455,413

562,892

Yr./Yr. % Change

-13.8%

-19.9%

-15.5%

6.5%

1.2%

5.7%

Continued…

May 2018 Year-Over-Year Per Cent Change in the MLS® HPI

Composite (All Types)

Single-Family Detached

Single-Family Attached

Townhouse

Apartment

TREB Total

-5.40%

-10.19%

-8.46%

-4.29%

8.29%

Halton Region

-3.84%

-6.20%

-4.20%

-4.30%

10.10%

Peel Region

-5.34%

-7.33%

-6.83%

-6.28%

4.15%

City of Toronto

1.01%

-8.60%

-3.99%

1.04%

10.12%

York Region

-15.59%

-17.50%

-17.56%

-10.57%

1.02%

Durham Region

-8.89%

-9.07%

-9.49%

-9.19%

-1.15%

Orangeville

-1.97%

-2.10%

-2.76%

-

-

South Simcoe County1

-8.75%

-9.08%

-6.22%

-

-

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

1South Simcoe includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Essa, Innisfil and New Tecumseth

Annual Summary of TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price

Year-to-Date

2018

2017

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

City of Toronto ("416")

12,340

832,486

22,050

17,012

883,660

27,593

Rest of GTA ("905")

19,617

756,468

46,718

29,585

880,400

53,835

GTA

31,957

785,822

68,768

46,597

881,591

81,428

Annual TREB MLS® Sales & Average Price By Home Type

Year-to-Date 2018

Sales

Average Price

416

905

Total

416

905

Total

Detached

3,199

10,501

13,700

1,339,618

918,270

1,016,656

Yr./Yr. % Change

-33.6%

-38.9%

-37.8%

-12.7%

-14.9%

-13.8%

Semi-Detached

981

1,870

2,851

1,022,263

653,520

780,401

Yr./Yr. % Change

-25.0%

-29.8%

-28.2%

-4.4%

-8.2%

-5.9%

Townhouse

1,154

4,062

5,216

755,448

603,918

637,443

Yr./Yr. % Change

-24.9%

-22.7%

-23.2%

2.4%

-8.1%

-5.6%

Condo Apartment

6,925

2,759

9,684

586,721

446,307

546,717

Yr./Yr. % Change

-24.9%

-28.2%

-25.9%

7.7%

3.9%

7.0%

Seasonally Adjusted TREB MLS® Sales and Average Price1

Continued…

Sales

Month-over-Month % Chg.

Average Price

Month-over-Month % Chg.

May. '17

7,409

-19.7%

$814,417

-5.4%

June. '17

6,267

-15.4%

$775,302

-4.8%

July. '17

6,127

-2.2%

$775,373

0.0%

August. '17

6,489

5.9%

$773,362

-0.3%

September. '17

6,629

2.2%

$782,414

1.2%

October. '17

6,789

2.4%

$786,238

0.5%

November. '17

7,699

13.4%

$777,036

-1.2%

December. '17

8,606

11.8%

$783,611

0.8%

January. '18

6,528

-24.1%

$769,509

-1.8%

February. '18

5,948

-8.9%

$746,897

-2.9%

March. '18

5,851

-1.6%

$752,402

0.7%

April. '18

5,734

-2.0%

$751,068

-0.2%

May. '18

5,712

-0.4%

$759,158

1.1%

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board; CREA Seasonal Adjustment

1 Preliminary seasonal adjustment undertaken by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Removing normal seasonal variations allows for more meaningful analysis of monthly changes and underlying trends.

Original source: http://www.trebhome.com/market_news/release_market_updates/news2018/nr_market_watch_0518.htm