8000 Plus!

In April, for the first time in its 82-year history, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported over 8,000 existing home sales in a single month, TREB President David Pearce reported today. The 8,181 figure exceeded March's 7,602 sales, the previous all time record, by 8%, and was up 33% from the 6,163 sales recorded in April of last year.

"Although Spring is the busiest season for the housing market and April's result came as no surprise, we are of course delighted that the market is demonstrating sustained strength. Historically low Interest rates, strong employment and immigration numbers are all contributing to this trend, which we expect will continue into 2003."

Prices continued to rise in April, with the average going to 277,664 from March's $274,874, a 1% increase, and up 11% from April of 2001.

Breaking down the total, 3,120 sales were reported in TREB's 28 West districts and averaged $254,343; 1,300 sales were reported in the 14 Central districts and averaged $399,449; 1,618 sales were reported in the 23 North districts and averaged $299,449; and 2,143 sales were reported in TREB's 21 East districts and averaged $221,367.

Neighbourhood Corner
Forest Hill

Average prices in Forest Hill (from St. Clair to Eglinton, Bathurst to Avenue) fell last month, coming in at $1,008,531, a 15% decline over the $1,194,622 recorded in April 2001. Despite the hefty price tag, the average time-on-market for these homes was 31 days, a little less than the city-wide 32 day figure.

Somewhat more affordable were the co-op apartments in the Spadina/ Lonsdale area of Forest Hill , which sold for an average price of $188,000. These, on average, took 28 days to sell.