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Toronto’s sales figures come one day after the board in Vancouver also reported a record year, capped off by a strong December which is normally a slow month for real estate activity.

Both cities’ real estate markets will find themselves coping with new federal mortgage regulations that many analysts say are aimed at their red-hot markets. Starting Feb. 15, anyone with a mortgage backed by the federal government will need to have a 10 per cent downpayment on the portion of any home purchase over $500,000.

The next 45 days are expected to see some increase in market activity as consumers try to beat the new rules and buy now.

McLean said the market is starting 2016 with “substantial pent-up demand” and says 2015 would have even seen more sales if more product was available.

In Toronto’s very tight detached market, sales only climbed 1.7 per cent for the year, a percentage driven by supply shortages. Those market conditions helped drive the average price of detached home to $1,047,483 — 12.6 per cent increase from a year ago.

Detached homes in the 905 suburbs proved to be just as sought after with the average one selling for $728,015 in 2015, up 12.1 per cent from a year ago.

The average sale price across all property types and markets served by TREB reached $622,217 in 2015, up 9.8 per cent from a year ago.

The board doesn’t expect much a slowdown in 2016 either, even in the face of many negative factors for real estate in 2016.

“TREB will release its official 2016 outlook later in January, but suffice to say that the demand for ownership housing is expected to remain very strong in 2016. Despite stricter mortgage lending guidelines and the possibility of slightly higher borrowing costs, on average, there will be many buyers who remain upbeat on the purchase of ownership housing,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, in a release.

gmarr@nationalpost.com

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