The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) resale market was marked by strong year-over-year sales and price growth in January. There were 4,986 sales in the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) market area last month, compared with 2,670 in January 2009, when resale market activity dropped off due to the economic downturn. Over the same period, active listings were down 41%. With sales increasing relative to the supply of homes for sale over the past year, we continued to see strong upward pressure on the average selling price. The average price for last month’s transactions was $409,058, representing a 19% annual increase.

I asked Jason Mercer, TREB’s senior manager of market analysis, if he expects to see similar annual sales increases throughout 2010.

Mr. Mercer feels that “sales in 2010 will be in line with 2009 levels, but this increase will be driven by activity in the first half of the year. With a strong hand-off from 2009, sales in the first half of 2010 will be brisk, including a record number of resale transactions in the first quarter. In the second half of 2010, however, we will see a bit of moderation, with lower sales compared with the record third and fourth quarter sales experienced last year. The cost of home ownership will start to rise, with mortgage rates increasing, the average home price continuing to trend upward and the average household income growing at a below-average clip.

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