House prices continue to soar in Brampton as fewer homes hit the market

If you are looking to purchase a home in Brampton, you’ll struggle to contend with high prices and very limited inventory.  

According to recently released data, the average home price surged 24 per cent in the city in August 2021 to hit $1,060,277. 

Brampton isn’t the only GTA city impacted by falling sales, limited inventory and sky-high prices. In the rest of the GTA, slower sales and fewer listings have ensured that prices remain high. 

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) says August home sales slowed from the frenzied pace seen earlier in the year, but market conditions have tightened as supply plummeted by 43 per cent and prices rose yet again.

Last week, TRREB announced that 8,596 Toronto and GTA homes were sold in August, a 19.9 per cent drop from 10,738 at the same time last year and an eight per cent fall from 9,368 in July.

New listings in the region fell to 10,609–down 43 per cent from 18,599 last August and 15 per cent from 12,551 in July.

Prices have continued to climb due to low interest rates and remote working arrangements that have allowed people to seek out homes outside of major cities. Prospective homebuyers have also been able to save more due to ongoing lockdowns and business closures that have forced them to spend less on entertainment. 

According to TRREB, the average price of a home in the region increased to $1,070,911 in August from $951,219 at the same time the year before and $1,062,256 the month before.

As far as Brampton goes, real estate website and brokerage Zoocasa says the city experienced a sharp dip in sales in August with 883 homes changing hands–a 26 per cent decrease from the previous year.

The average price, however, surged the most out of the markets analyzed, climbing 24 per cent to hit $1,060,277. The high price point is a product of low supply, as a total of 950 homes were listed during the month–down 46 per cent year-over-year.

Almost every property that hit the market sold, Zoocasa says.

According to Zoocasa, a total of 462 detached houses traded hands (down 28 per cent from 2020) at an average of $1,275,119 (up 29 per cent since last year). A total of 190 semi-detached houses sold (down 17 per cent) at an average of $933,105 (up 21 per cent), while 75 townhouses sold (down 19 per cent) at an average of $685,695 (up 19 per cent).

Unlike nearby markets, the Brampton condo segment also fell annually with 44 sales, down 14 per cent year over year.

However, unit prices rose 11 per cent to an average of $516,634.

As far as the entire GTA goes, TRREB said the average cost of a home hit $1,108,981 in August, up from $923,204 the year before.

TRREB expects the GTA to continue to favour sellers going forward. In fact, it predicted in February that by the time 2021 ends, the average selling price in the region will be $1.025 million, up from an average of $929,692 in 2020.

The Canadian Real Estate Association forecast in May that average home prices across the country would soar to as much as $649,400 by the end of the year and reach as high as $704,900 in 2023.

“There has been no relief on the supply side for homebuyers, in fact, competition between these buyers have increased,” said TRREB’s chief market analyst Jason Mercer, in a statement. 

“As we move toward 2022, expect market conditions to become tighter as population growth in the GTA starts to trend back to pre-COVID levels.”

With files from Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press