[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto house prices soared again in September"

[rfmcdonald]

MacLean's carries David Paddon's Canadian Press article looking at the latest in the Toronto housing market.

Housing sales in the Toronto area continued to soar last month, with the average price rising 20.4 per cent from September last year to $755,755, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported Wednesday.

The price increases came as the number of transactions in the Greater Toronto Area rose 21.5 per cent, a stark contrast to a big drop in the number of transactions last month in Vancouver’s residential real estate market.

The real estate board said Wednesday there was strong growth in sales transactions for all major home types in the area but a lack of supply limited growth in the City of Toronto itself.

[. . .]

There’s also been anecdotal evidence that some foreign buyers have shifted their focus from Vancouver to other cities, including Toronto. On Monday, the federal government unveiled measures to tighten rules for prospective buyers and lenders.

“The Toronto Real Estate Board will be closely monitoring how the recent changes to federal mortgage lending guidelines and capital gains tax exemption rules impact the housing market in the Greater Toronto Area,” Jason Mercer, the board’s director of market analysis, said in a statement Wednesday.