The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,S eptem ber 17,2020 insidehalton.com Independent Living Apartments • Full Service Retirement Suites • Assisted Care • Memory Care STAYING TOGETHER in our apartment while my husband gets great care, ENJOYING THE FREEDOM to prepare fresh meals in our full kitchen and PLAYING CARDS on Thursday evenings with my friends. I'm looking forward to...I'm looking forward to... LIFE at The VillageLIFE at The Village 2930 Erin Centre Boulevard, Mississauga For more inform ation call Christina or B radley 905-56 9-7155 x 8015 schlegelvillag es.com Homes in Oakville and Milton are selling faster and for more money, ac- cording to a recently-re- leased real estate report. According to the Au- gust GTA market statistics from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB), homes in Oak- ville are now on average among the most expensive in the GTA. Of the 407 homes sold in Oakville in August, the average price was $1,276,341. By comparison, Toronto's average home sale price last month was $1,012,506 while in Rich- mond Hill, it was $1,201,627. "Increased demand for ownership housing has been based on improving economic conditions, in terms of monthly GDP growth and job creation, and the continuation of very low borrowing costs," TRREB President Lisa Pa- tel said. "In addition, fewer households have chosen to go on vacation as a result of COVID-19 and instead have remained in the GTA and been active in the housing market, satisfying pent-up demand from the spring." According to figures re- leased by The Oakville, Milton and District Real Estate Board (OMDREB), there were 173 single-fami- ly home sales in July, com- pared to 140 in July 2019. There were also 116 townhouse/condo sales in Oakville in July, compared with 93 in July of last year. "It is apparent the de- mand for 'a place to call home' has been the driving force in Halton real estate during a time that typical- ly shows a lull in activity," said OMDREB president Richard Weima. "Ontario's move to Stage 3 has unteth- ered the ability to hold in- person showings, which points to consumers being able to regain confidence in buying and selling real estate." In Milton, there were 74 single-family home sales in July, up 14 from the 60 in July 2019. It was a similar trend for townhouses and condos with 61 sales in July compared with 54 in July 2019. "Mortgage rates have not been this low in de- cades for buyers, so it comes as no surprise that activity and home values have risen so strongly. Be- cause of this, our govern- ments really need to un- derstand why housing has grown to be so out of reach for many consumer seg- ments," Weima said. "All levels of government are driving costs up for hous- ing with regulatory re- strictions and the numer- ous taxes and fees associat- ed. REALTORS® continue to urge greater attention paid to reduce red tape for increased building oppor- tunities, as well as provid- ing consumers with im- proved housing options to meet this challenge," con- tinues Weima. The Canadian Mort- gage and Housing Corpo- ration says the Canadian government has a number of programs available to support homebuyers. In Oakville, the average sale price for a home in Ju- ly 2020 was $1,571,751, up 14 percent from $1,378,385 in 2019. The average sale price for a townhouse/condo in the same area for July 2020 was $776,195, up 9.6 percent from $708,392 in July 2019. In Milton, the average sale price for a home in Ju- ly 2020 was $1,052,402, up 12.1 percent from $938,666 in 2019. The average sale price for a townhouse/con- do in the same area for July 2020 was $684,013, up 13.8 percent from $600,807 in July 2019. LOCAL HOMES SELLING FASTER AND FOR MORE MONEY: REPORT The Oakville, Milton and District Real Estate Board have released home sale numbers for the summer. Torstar file photo LOUIE ROSELLA lrosella@metroland.com NEWS