Toronto’s residential real estate market is finally recovering from its 2017 demise.

Home sales haven’t fully recouped, but recent pricing predictions show a modest increase in sales and signify progress.

Royal LePage predicted a 1.4 per cent overall increase in Toronto home sales this year. The Toronto Real Estate Board has already seen an 8.5 per cent rise in re-sale home transaction this year to date.

In June, TREB reported a 10.4 per cent gain in re-sale home transactions and RBC found home sales were up 0.2 per cent, plus there was a 19 per cent increase in sales over the last three months.

Toronto house prices are on the rise — again

How about the feds and the province actually put $$$ into housing and build rentals instead of just using interest rates to cool the market and shutting out folks? #onpoli #cdnpoli https://t.co/Yx5lKV6eYR

— Chetan Mehta, MD, CCFP (@drchetanmehta) July 22, 2019

After the industry downfall, new rules were outlined in a mortgage stress test to evaluate whether borrowers with uninsured loans could withstand higher interest rates.

These new stress test rules changed for the first time on Friday, which will allow a home buyer to get approved for a larger mortgage.

The stress test was created to ensure people seeking loans could pay them off, even if the rates reached higher levels, like they did in 2017. 

Before this shift, the bank rate for a loan was 5.34 per cent, but now it is 5.19 per cent.

Qualifying for a #mortgage just got easier 👍 The interest rate used by the federally regulated banks in stress tests has declined. This is important for 1st time #homeowners who have been struggling to pass the B-20 stress test. The change in rate went from 5.34% to 5.19%. pic.twitter.com/fLk6acWaEO

— Chris Allard (@MrtgChris) July 22, 2019

Despite the fact that the real estate market is recovering, the Ontario Real Estate Association said that the stress test is excluding millennials from partaking in the market.

The association has advocated for first time buyers and wants it eliminated.