Every month, a new real estate market update in Toronto is released by organizations such as Toronto MLS and the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. This data is then interpreted into various headlines shared by news organizations and journalists.

As a buyer or seller of real estate, however, you can look up real estate market updates online with ease. What you will find are some terms you likely know what they mean and references to a lot that may not be clear.

Here is how to read a real estate market update in Toronto, understanding the terminology commonly used.

What Is Average Sales Price?

The average sales price is how much the average home in Toronto is sold for. This number is often segmented into different types of properties, such as single-family detached homes, condos, and townhouses. The average sales price is also given as a percentage change, calculated either from the month prior or the year prior, respectfully addressed as month-over-month or year-over-year.

What Is Price Growth?

Some real estate market updates show a small analysis of Toronto regions or Toronto neighborhoods, highlighting days on the market, average home price, and year-over-year growth. Price growth is the change in sales price from the same period last year. For example, in any given month, there are neighborhoods with price growth in the 10-15% range while other areas have negative growth.

What Is Sales Volume By Property?

Sales volume is a measurement of what percentage of properties sold in the GTA suit a specific home type. Roughly half of all home sales over the past year have been condos, for example, with detached homes coming in at second place and townhouses at a near third.

What Is Months of Inventory?

Months of Inventory, or MOI, refers to the relationship of the pace of sales to the number of properties currently on the market if no additional properties were added. It is a number calculated by determining the number of homes sold per month and dividing this number by the total number of properties for sale on the last day of the month.

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What Is Toronto Housing Inventory?

The deeper we dig into Toronto real estate inventory numbers, a real estate market update will typically show how many new listings there were in the last month, total number of homes sold in the month, and the average amount of time properties were on the market for prior to a sale.

What Is List-To-Sale Ratio?

List-to-sale ratio is used by realtors and real estate analysts to determine whether homes are selling for more or less than the asking price of the local market.

Why There Are Different Ways To Read The Data

A journalist can interpret the data from last month to the present month and tell one story. Another journalist can compare year-over-year or this year to pre-pandemic levels, or this year to a decade ago, and so on.

Every time, there is a different story to be told, sometimes positive and other times negative, depending on which comparison is selected.

Ultimately, as a seller or real estate buyer, one must decide for themselves how to read a real estate market update in the GTA as it relates to their hopes and aspirations.

Read the analyses correctly. Do your research. Consider for yourself how accurate current trends and real estate predictions are.

If you are looking for honest, transparent, and direct input on whether to buy or sell your home in Etobicoke or the GTA, how to do it, and to better understand how the latest Toronto real estate market update affects your property, connect with a real estate agent at Adrian + Andrea today, contact us by email at info@adrianandrea.com or call (416) 319-6893 today.