After months upon months of sliding house prices and sales numbers in Toronto, the local real estate market is starting to show some signs of life again.

A total of 8,082 home sales were reported in June across the GTA, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board's Monthly Market Figures report. That's 2.4 per cent higher than what we saw in June of 2017, when sales dropped to just 7,893 homes (and continued to drop for months after that.)

On a monthly basis, the news is even better for home owners and sellers. Sales were up 17.6 per cent in June of 2018 over May of 2018, according to TREB, after preliminary seasonal adjustment.

Meanwhile, flagging area home prices reached their highest average price last month since May of 2017 (though not by much, at $807,871.)

"Home ownership has proven to be a positive long-term investment," said incoming TREB president Garry Bhaura in a release on Thursday.

"After some adjustment to the Fair Housing Plan the new Office of The Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) stress test requirement and generally higher borrowing costs, home buyers are starting to move back into the market, with sales trending up from last year's lows."

He continued to say that "market conditions appear to be tightening, with sales accounting for a greater share of listings, as new listings have dropped compared to last year."