2005 Off to Fast Start

TORONTO - January 17, 2005--In the first two weeks of this month, sales of single-family dwellings are up 18 per cent to 1,310 over the same period in January 2004.

Prices are also up in the first days of 2005, to $301,372 from January 2004's end-of-month figure of $295,989.

TREB President Ron Abraham says that a good beginning can lay a solid foundation for the year.

"Strong early numbers in January bode well for a good start to 2005 as the market begins to gear up following the holiday season. The beginning of the spring season for the real estate market is generally considered to be the end of January, at which time sales volumes tend to rise".

Meanwhile, the latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that the national unemployment level fell 0.3 percentage points in December to seven per cent, the lowest level since 2001. In Toronto, one thousand jobs were added over that same time frame.

Despite some analysts' predictions that Canada’s economic growth will slow somewhat from the pace of 2004, on the whole the situation is quite favourable.

"A positive economic climate continues to exist, keeping home ownership a realistic goal." Mr. Abraham said.

"Most analysts expect the Bank of Canada to moderately raise interest rates, probably by about 50 basis points over the course of 2005, due at least in part to the rising dollar. The prospect of a slight rise however; will not likely to scare off consumers."

Serving more than 21,000 REALTORS throughout the Greater Toronto Area, the Toronto Real Estate Board is Canada’s largest real estate board.

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* Please note that TREB counts by business or sales days. In a 30 day month, there will usually be about 20 sales days, depending on when the weekends fall, holidays,
and so on.