Toronto home sales rise in July for fifth straight month

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, ‌Aug 6 (Reuters) - ​Greater ​Toronto Area home sales rose in July for a fifth straight month and ‌prices increased, supported by recent signs of improvement ⁠in the domestic economy, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board ‌data showed on Thursday.

• ‌Seasonally adjusted sales increased 3.2% last month from June to 5,582 units, marking the highest ​level of sales since September last year.

• The board's home price index was up 0.3% ⁠month-over-month, after seasonal adjustment, to C$933,800 ($665,811.05), marking the second straight month ​of higher prices.

• The Greater Toronto Area includes Canada's most populous city and four ​surrounding regional municipalities.

• "While uncertainty about ‌the economy and borrowing costs persists, recent news has been more positive ⁠than expected," the board's chief information officer, Jason Mercer, said in a statement.

• "This could help bolster consumer confidence ⁠and prompt an uptick in home purchases in the ​months ahead," Mercer said.

• Recent preliminary data has pointed to Canada's economy growing by 3.4% in the second quarter, ‌which would be its best quarterly performance for more than three years.

• On ‌a year-over-year basis, home sales fell 0.9%, while ⁠new listings declined ‌17.8% and the ​price index was down 4.6%.

($1 = 1.4025 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Cynthia ‌Osterman)

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