January’s bitter cold doesn’t appear to have a taken a bite out of the GTA housing market, with the Toronto Real Estate Board reporting “a strong start to 2015” in sales figures for the first month of the year released Wednesday.

Sales, prices and even new listings were all up significantly, with TREB predicting continued price growth in 2015 – in both the low-rise home and condo sector – even as the slumping price of oil and mounting job losses shake consumer confidence in other Canadian housing markets.

The composite benchmark price of a home in the GTA rose 7.5 per cent in January, year over year, bringing the average sale price to $552,575. Sales were up 4.9 per cent over January 2014, says TREB.

The real estate board is even predicting that demand for condos will be “robust” throughout 2015, enough to drive price growth above inflation.

But more people put their houses up for sale after a year in which a shortage of inventory remained a major issue, driving fierce price competition and bidding wars, especially in the City of Toronto housing market.

New listings were up 9.5 per cent, although active listings – the combination of new and previous listings still unsold – were still down 2.5 per cent year over year, which means the market remains tight.

“The fact that new listings grew at a faster pace than sales suggests that it has become easier for some people to find a home that meets their needs,” said TREB president Paul Etherington.

But some housing watchers will inevitably take a different view, suggesting that the growth in listings – especially after so many years post-recession in which folks opted to just stay put – may be a reflection that some homeowners are concerned the market has hit its peak, consumer confidence is waning, and sales may be headed for a slowdown, despite TREB’s optimistic predictions for 2015.

In Calgary, for instance, listings started spiking as oil headed south and consumer confidence took a beating. Listings were up 40 per cent in January alone and, with job losses in Alberta mounting, sales plunged 35 per cent to their lowest levels in more than seven years.

While economists have largely predicted that the Ontario economy will gain from Alberta’s loss, as demand and growth move east, consumer confidence is key to a healthy housing market.

During the month of January, detached-home sales across the GTA were up 7.1 per cent and prices up 4.2 per cent, to an average of $716,127. That average hit $948,713 in the sought-after City of Toronto.

Semi-detached sales were up 0.7 per cent. The average sale price of a semi across the GTA was up 7.8 per cent in January, year over year, to an average of $520,510 and $667,452 in the 416 region.

Townhouse sales were up 0.6 per cent and prices were up 8 per cent across the GTA, although sales spiked by 14.5 per cent in the City of Toronto, bringing the average price to $440,058 across the GTA and $502,267 in the 416 region.

Condos recorded the highest sales growth of all housing types as more people find themselves priced out of the low-rise house market: Sales of those were up 11.2 per cent across the GTA.

Prices climbed an average of 3.6 per cent in January, year over year. The average sales prices of a condo in the City of Toronto hit $382,458 in the City of Toronto, up 4.5 per cent, while prices averaged $310,045 in the 905 regions, up 3.6 per cent.