You may have heard that in the month of May, sales activity across the GTA was down. This is true. When compared to year-over-year sales comparisons in which the Toronto Real Estate Board utilizes, sales are down a staggering 20% from those recorded in May 2016.

Wait! Wasn’t May 2016 the busiest year ever for sales in the month of May? Yes it was. It was about 10% higher than May 2015 and was part of a record year last year in total sales. Also about 10% higher than the total of 2015, which was the second busiest year ever recorded for sales.

This year started out on the same record-breaking pace as January, February and March all surpassed their 2016 monthly totals. April 2017 was a tipping point and sales activity dropped moderately. The first 2 weeks of June we’ve seen a 50% drop in sales activity.

New listings are increasing (which this in itself can be slightly deceiving as TREB counts a re-listed home as 2 listings). More listings are welcome news for Buyers who have been in the market the past two years and have been in constant multiple offer situations due to a lack of inventory.

Well, the inventory is finally building. Where are the Buyers?

For starters, the Toronto Real Estate Board tracks numbers from a wide stretch (mostly GTA with limited exceptions) and in the surrounding areas of Toronto is where there have been large upticks in new listings. Toronto proper listings are not sitting long on the market and prices in May were up all across the board on prices from May 2016.

In Toronto proper the averages sale prices are as follows:

• Detached homes $1,503,868 up 16.6% over 2016
• Semi-detached $1,062,318 up 27%
• Townhouse $741,211 up 18%
• Condominiums $564,808 up 27.7%

Sales activity is down, prices are still higher than the previous year albeit it looks like the crazy price gains we had at the start of the year are subsiding and we are certainly moving to a more balanced market.

The demand for Toronto real estate remains high and all other economic indicators point to this being more a pause for the time being, than an all out souring on the housing market. There is opportunity in every market depending on your individual situation, and if I were a Buyer I would take advantage of the pause if possible. After all, we need a place to live and call home.