The summer surge of home buying has the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) revising its forecast to higher grounds.Despite the economy, analysts are now expecting to match or even surpass last year's 74,558 sales. The estimate earlier was in the range of 65,000 - 70,000.

TREB reported 9,967 sales of existing homes in July, up 28% from the same period last year giving it the best such month on record.

The average price of a home is $395,414, up 6% from the same month last year.

This has caught many Realtors and buyers by surprise from these record sales and upbeat prices, especially after the beginning of the year sales plunged in January.

The historically low interest rates have been fueling the market, primarily for first time home buyers. However, it is not expected for this to last, although it would be great if it did.

A big reason for the price increases in the Toronto market is from the lack of listings. This is down 36% in July compared to July last year. With less houses on the market, buyers have to compete against each other. Resulting in multiple offers in popular neighbourhoods.

We will see this trend ease in the fall as more move-up buyers place their homes on the market.

Area's such as Mississauga and Brampton had 6,607 units listed in July, which is twice as many as the central and eastern areas. Central Toronto had the lowest inventory with 2,569 homes on the market.

Building permits in Toronto have gone up 1.2% which was unexpected by many, while nationally permits have gone up 1%.