Without question the weather Toronto has experienced so far this year with unsightly banks of grey hardened snow and ice, has delayed the market action. The number of new listings and sales are slightly down compared to a year ago, but the good news is the average selling price for The City of Toronto is up 4.2% to $840,211 compared to last February which was $806,494. With March break upon us next week listings will be slim. Most sellers who are planning to list their properties have been instructed to wait until after the school breaks. Hopefully by then we can expect some balmy temperatures to arrive which will bring us the usual spring bounce.

As the days are getting longer, we are seeing more freehold listings come to market, up 45% from the prior week. There was a small blip in properties sold, up by 5%, and no surprise that of those properties sold, 66% sold at or above the asking price.

The condo market is not showing any signs of slowing. The condominium sector was instrumental in the price growth we have seen. The average price for a condo in The City of Toronto is up 7.4% to $612,488 compared to last February which was $570,275. New listings last week were up 36% week-over-week and the number of sold condos saw a small 4% increase, and of those condos sold 47% sold at or above the asking price.

The rental market continues to operate in high demand. Low inventory and strong competition between renters resulted in average rents increasing well above the rate of inflation on a year-over-year basis. The average one-bedroom monthly rent was up by 8.1% to $2,145 and the average two-bedroom rent was up by 7.4% to $2,810.