The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) recently reported that the number of GTA home sales tracked through the MLS system in August marked a 2.8-per-cent increase compared to the same month last year. The 7,600 transactions recorded this August brought year-to-date sales to 65,454 transactions.

“The last full month of summer ended on a high note,” said Paul Etherington, president of TREB. “As we look toward the fall market, I expect that demand for ownership housing will remain strong. Home buyers will continue to benefit from a diversity of affordable home ownership opportunities throughout the GTA. The fact that sales were up for all major home types in August suggests that first-time buyers and existing home owners remain very active in today’s marketplace.”

The average selling price for a GTA home was also up in August. At $546,303, it represented an 8.9-per-cent increase compared to the same period in 2013.

“The number of listings in August was down in comparison to last year, while the number of sales increased,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis at TREB. “This means that sellers’ market conditions remained in place with a lot of competition between buyers. This is why we continued to see strong price growth last month. Looking forward, if sales growth continues to outstrip listings growth, the average selling price should continue to increase on a year-over-year basis.”