Month over month, real estate sales in the Durham Region have continued to meet and surpass expectations, and the numbers from August 2015 were no exception. According to Durham Region Association of REALTORS® President Sandra O\’Donohue, residential transactions for August peaked at 984, which marks a 7.1% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.
“The market trend for 2015 has been rising home prices. Month-to-month, we are still seeing prices swell in comparison to last year\’s market,” explained O\’Donohue. According to the MLS, the average price for resale homes in Durham Region over August was just over $446,000, up an impressive 14% from August 2014.
“Buyers remain eager to purchase homes in Durham while still keeping affordability in mind,” she continued. “We have begun to see more listings enter the market in comparison to last year, which gives buyers more inventory to choose from, however, the market is still very much a seller\’s market and we expect that trend to continue later into the year.”
Overall, the housing market across the GTA has tracked similarly, with the Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® Association reporting that 7,998 residential transactions having taken place across the GTA, a 5.7% increase compared to August 2014. Though active listings at the end of last month were still down compared to 2014, it\’s a safe bet that seller\’s will continue to reap the benefits of the nation\’s low interest rates, especially where single, semi and townhomes are concerned.
\”A record year for home sales continued to unfold in August as competition between buyers exerted upward pressure on selling prices,” said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board\’s Director of Market Analysis. “It was encouraging to see annual growth in new listings outstrip annual growth in sales, but we will need to see this for a number of months before market conditions become more balanced.\”
