July’s 2,429 condominium apartment sales in the GTA marked a 14.4-per-cent year-over-year increase, reports the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). Overall, last month’s home sales for the region hit record levels, with 9,880 homes sold through the TREB’s MLS System in an eight-per-cent increase over July 2014.

“As we move towards a new record for home sales this year, it is important to point out that home ownership demand has been driven not only by low borrowing costs, but also by the fact that the GTA economy has been performing quite well, with the unemployment rate lower compared to last year,” said Mark McLean, president of TREB, in a press release. “Home buyers remain confident in the long-term benefits of owning a home.”

The average GTA selling price for condo apartments specifically increased 4.1 per cent annually while the average GTA selling price overall increased by 10.6 per cent annually. The Home Price Index Composite Benchmark increased by 9.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Detached homes saw the largest price increases as annual growth in the average selling price outpaced growth in the Home Price Index detached benchmark, suggesting a greater proportion of high-end homes have sold in 2015 compared to 2014.

“With the level of inventory in the GTA trending below two months, many listings continued to generate a lot of interest from buyers. Not surprisingly, this supported further price increases well above the rate of inflation,” said Jason Mercer, director of market analysis, TREB, in a press release. “Assuming similar interest rate and economic environments over the next five months, strong price growth will remain the norm for the rest of 2015.”