It was a similar situation Canada wide, as starts jumped a much higher than expected 17 per cent to 249,300, the highest since August of 2004.
“Unseasonably warm weather through much of January, still-low mortgage rates, solid job and income growth, and a high level of consumer confidence all played a part in keeping the nation’s construction sites humming,” said economist Bart Melek at BMO Nesbitt Burns in a note today.
In a separate report released today by Statistics Canada, the new housing price index remained flat in December.
The federal agency said it was the first time that prices did not advance nationally for new homes since June 2000, suggesting that the real estate market is beginning to cool.
Nationally, selling prices are up 10.7 per cent compared to a year ago.
Costs for construction materials, in particular electrical, drywall, roofing, windows and labor rates had caused the prices of new homes to increase dramatically.
In Toronto, prices for new homes remained relatively flat in December, rising by only 0.1 per cent compared to a month earlier.
The Toronto Real Estate Board also credited the weather for helping the market get off to a rosy start in January for existing home sales.
According to the board in figures released this week 5,173 existing homes were sold last month, up 13 per cent from last January.
That figure is also six per cent higher than the 4,869 sales recorded in 2002 – the previous record month.
Still, year over year, average prices are up by a higher than anticipated 9-per cent in the Toronto area. The average price of a home is now $353,724, up from $323,141 last January.
Toronto real estate. MARKET IN JANUARY
![Toronto real estate. MARKET IN JANUARY]()
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