Toronto home price jumps 10% in March

The spring home buying season started early in Toronto this year with the average price of homes jumping 10 per cent in March compared to the previous year.

In March, the average selling price for all resale homes and condos in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area was $613,933 – a 10 per cent rise.

• Toronto detached home price now averages over $1M

• Housing market softening everywhere but Toronto and Vancouver, BMO says

On Tuesday, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported 8,940 sales in March, up from 8,081 sales in March 2014.

"A substantial amount of pent-up demand remains in place, especially as it relates to low-rise market segments," says TREB president Paul Etherington. "This suggests that strong competition between buyers, which has fuelled strong price growth so far this year, will continue to be experienced throughout the spring."

The strongest competition was for single-family homes, with detached homes in the 416 selling for an average of $1,042,405, an increase of 15.9 per cent and detached houses in the 905 averaging $709,116, a 10 per cent increase.

While moderating temperatures and anticipation of the hot spring selling season brought new listings onto the market, the number of houses available was up only 5.5 per cent. Too many buyers were seeking out those new listings, and that has the effect of pushing prices higher.

Still going strong in T.O.

Several recent studies of real estate across Canada have found that house prices are moderating in most urban areas, the exceptions being Toronto and Vancouver.

The average townhouse selling in the 416 area went for $546,993, a 13 per cent increase, while in the 905, the average townhouse sale price was $438,503, up 8.4 per cent.

The condo market was less buoyant, but condo sales, which have been stagnant these past few months were up 12.7 per cent. The average price of a condo was $372,827, up 4.3 per cent.