CREA Evaluates its Predictions for Ontario Following Toronto’s 25% Home Sales Decline in May

On Thursday, the Canadian Real Estate Association said it is assessing its predictions concerning the housing sales in Ontario after measures were set by the government to cool the market.

“Evidence suggests that housing market sentiment has similarly cooled following housing policy changes made by the provincial government in April 2017. Trends for the province are softening, with home sales and price growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region slowing,” the Ottawa-based group, which represents real estate agents throughout the country, said in a release.

They were some measures introduced in Ontario aimed at cooling the housing markets, involving a 16-point plan which includes a 15 per cent foreigner speculation tax in the Greater Golden Horseshoe and enlarged rent control rules for the whole province. This measure was implemented after British Columbia introduced a 15 per cent additional property transfer tax on non-resident buyers in August 2016.

After they released results on Thursday for May, CREA discovered that the number of homes sold through Canadian Multiple Listings service experienced a 6.2 per cent drop from April, which is the largest month-over-month percentage drop since August 2012.

The sales registered during the month of May experienced a decline from the previous month in about half of all local markets, but the 25.3 per cent drop month-over-month in the Greater Toronto Area was responsible for propelling the large national decline. Activity in the markets was down in Hamilton-Burlington, Barrie, Milton, Oakville and GGH region.

“Recent changes to housing policy in Ontario have quickly caused sales and listings to become more balanced in the GTA,” said Andrew Peck, president of CREA, in a statement. “Meanwhile, the balance between supply and demand in Vancouver is tightening up, while many places elsewhere in Canada remain amply