House prices up 10 per cent since last year in Brampton

Published July 10, 2020 at 7:59 pm

Not even a global pandemic could cool Brampton’s white-hot housing market, as recent data suggests house prices are up 10 per cent year-over-year.

Not even a global pandemic could cool Brampton’s white-hot housing market, as recent data suggests house prices are up 10 per cent year-over-year.

Although the pandemic briefly slowed activity, the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) recently announced that more people are clamouring to get into a heated GTA market that’s still low on inventory. 

TRREB said that 8,701 homes were sold in June, down 1.4 per cent compared with the same month last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, those sales were up 84 per cent compared with May.

However, active listings were down at the end of June by 28.8 per cent compared to the prior year.

There were just over 16,150 new listings, a 2.1 per cent increase from last year, according to TREBB, which also said that growth in new listings will need to outstrip growth in sales for a number of months before active listings approach last year’s levels.

The demand the market is experiencing comes after a sluggish few months that saw most Canadians transition to work from home and postpone any plans they had to buy or sell properties. Some realtors moved ahead with sales, hosting virtual showings and forcing prospective buyers to don a mask and gloves to check out a property, but the market still took a hit.

The average selling price in June was $930,869, up 11.9 per cent compared with June 2019, said TREBB.

Lisa Patel, TRREB’s president, has noticed the pent-up demand too and is optimistic about where the market is headed.

“We are still in the early days of recovery, but barring any setbacks, we should continue to see stronger market conditions in the second half of 2020 as households look to satisfy their ownership housing needs,” she said in a statement.

As far as the local market goes, real estate brokerage and website Zoocasa said the housing market in the Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills) regions recovered considerably in June. According to data from TRREB, 990 homes sold in Halton in June–a remarkable 99 per cent increase since May, and a 9 per cent increase annually. 

Compared to February–which was the last full month before Ontario went into lockdown–home sales in Halton Region jumped 29 per cent. 

Zoocasa says Peel saw 1,778 home sales in June–a 92 per cent increase since May and 17 per cent increase over February’s pre-pandemic levels. 

Sales volumes in Peel Region fell a moderate 7 per cent short of 2019 levels, said Zoocasa. 

In Peel, the average home price across all home types rose 14 per cent annually and 7 per cent month-over-month to $866,830. 

Zoocasa said the market in Peel is relatively balanced, while Halton is more of a seller’s market. 

According to Zoocasa, 913 homes sold in June in Brampton – just 2 per cent shy of June 2019 levels, but a striking 98 per cent increase over May.

Brampton moved into sellers’ market territory this June with 1,404 new listings coming to the market.

Zoocasa said the average home price in Brampton hit $819,712 in June–10 per cent higher on a year-over-year basis, and 3 per cent higher than May. Condo prices rose 13 per cent year-over-year to $466,983, while semi-detached properties saw an 11 per cent uptick in prices to hit $749,755. Detached houses and condo townhouses each noted an annual average price increase of 10 per cent to $941,869 and $548,687 respectively. 

TRREB says there’s plenty to watch out for as the market stages a rebound, warning that policymakers should proceed cautiously with any demand-side stimulus. In other words, government shouldn’t go out of its way to make it easier for buyers to enter an already lean market. 

“The persistent lack of listing inventory in the GTA understandably took a back seat to COVID-related issues in the short term, but supply should once again be top-of-mind once the recovery takes hold, in order to ensure long-term affordability in the GTA,” said TRREB chief executive John DiMichele in the report.

With files from Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

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