Condo sales bring 2007 to a strong finish!

TORONTO, January 7, 2008 -- Brisk condo sales in December brought the 2007 Greater Toronto Area resale housing market to a strong finish, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O'Neill announced today.

“Typically condominium apartment transactions comprise just over 20 per cent of total sales but in December they accounted for more than a quarter of resale activity,” said Ms. O’Neill. “Condos are often more affordable than other housing options and they show particularly well in winter.”

Increasing by 12 per cent over the previous year to a total of 93,193 sales, 2007 was the best year ever for GTA resale housing activity and December’s 4,646 sales came within two per cent of the best performance for the month, set in 2001.

The average price in December was $394,931, which resulted in an annual increase of seven per cent from the previous year.

The most active areas in December were in the City of Toronto.

Riverdale (E01) saw a 75 per cent increase in transactions compared to December 2006, primarily based on semi-detached home sales.

In the Mimico area of Etobicoke (W06) transactions were up 57 per cent, driven by a significant increase in the sale of condo apartments.

In North York, (C14) sales increased by 44 per cent compared to last December, as a result of strong detached home transactions.

Toronto's Downtown East (C08) experienced a 59 per cent increase compared to the same timeframe a year ago due to strong condominium and semi-detached home sales.
“We saw strong, stable monthly performances throughout 2007, which illustrates that consumers now recognize it’s always a great time to buy or sell their next home,” said Ms. O’Neill.

Toronto REALTORS® are passionate about their work. They adhere to a strict code of ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service. Serving more than 26,000 Members in the Greater Toronto Area, the Toronto Real Estate Board is Canada’s largest real estate board. Greater Toronto Area open house listings are available on www.TorontoRealEstateBoard.com.

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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.