TABLE-Toronto home sales climb in November, but condo prices ease

OTTAWA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Toronto-area homes sales and prices climbed in November from a year earlier as strong demand for detached properties in the suburbs continued to outweighed softness in the downtown condominium market. Total sales of existing homes rose 24.3% to 8,766 in November, led by sharply higher sales of detached, semi-detached and townhouse properties, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) said on Thursday. Condo sales were up slightly, but active listings more than doubled, leading to price declines. The average selling price for a condo in the region slipped 2% to C$605,863, with condo prices falling around 8% in Toronto's dense downtown core. By contrast, the overall average selling price in the Greater Toronto Area rose 13.3% to C$955,615, buoyed by a 15.2% price gain for detached homes. The bulk of sales and biggest price gains were in suburban ground-oriented homes. "Home buyers continued to take advantage of very low borrowing costs in November, especially those looking to buy some form of single-family home," TRREB president Lisa Patel said in a statement. "Competition between buyers for ground-oriented homes has been extremely strong in many neighborhoods." NOVEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2019 YR/YR PCT CHANGE TOTAL SALES 8,766 10,563 7,054 24.3% AVERAGE PRICE C$955,615 C$968,318 C$843,307 13.3% NEW LISTINGS 11,545 8,651 13,053 33.5% After preliminary seasonal adjustment NOVEMBER MTH/MTH PCT CHANGE SALES 9,209 -2.1% AVERAGE PRICE C$961,012 0.8% Sales by type of property NOVEMBER YR/YR PCT CHANGE DETACHED 4,222 30.2% SEMI-DETACHED 888 33.9% TOWNHOUSE 1,527 30.7% CONDO APARTMENT 2,032 7.1% Average price by type of property NOVEMBER YR/YR PCT CHANGE DETACHED C$1,202,281 15.2% SEMI-DETACHED C$946,735 12.9% TOWNHOUSE C$750,939 12.6% CONDO APARTMENT C$605,863 -2.0% ($1 = 1.3261 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Julie Gordon; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)