This year’s report focuses on how real estate is driving economic stability during the unprece-dented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The real estate market has, and will, continue to be a major driver of recovery. On average, every MLS® System home sale results in over $68,000 of spin-off expenditure along with the associated jobs and gov-ernment revenues. That’s billions of dollars benefitting the economy. Inside, you’ll find evidence-based research that reveals new insights on our current environment, as well as an outlook for the rest of the year.
2020 Market Year in Review
The first quarter of 2020 started off strong until the pandemic hit in mid-March followed by the prov-ince-wide shutdown, which resulted in historical low market activity. However, sales growth quickly rebounded in the latter half of the year, which is a tes-tament to the resilience and flexibility of the regional economy and population. For 2020 as a whole, 95,151 sales were reported through TRREB’s MLS® System, an increase of 8.4 per cent year over year, whereas new listings were up only by 2.6 per cent. The disconnect between new listings and sales accelerated the growth of price. The overall average selling price increased by 13.5 per cent to $929,699 in 2020.
Outlook for 2021
Home ownership will remain strong in 2021. Looking ahead, total home sales are expected to range between 100,000 and 110,000. In addition, the overall average selling price for all home types and areas combined will eclipse the $1,000,000 mark for the first time. Ipsos conducted consumer surveys for TRREB regard-ing home buying and selling intentions for 2021. The key findings show COVID-19 has not dampened future home buying intentions.
