Home sales across Canada's largest housing market surged almost 20 per cent year-over-year in July, in the latest sign that buyers are adjusting to a slew of regulatory changes.

There were 6,961 property sales across the Greater Toronto Area last month, marking an 18.6 per cent increase from the previous year when the ripple effect of Ontario's so-called Fair Housing Plan was still cascading across the market.

Sales rose across ever property type in July, with the most significant gains in the GTA's coveted detached market, where sales soared 26.8 per cent year-over-year.

Meanwhile, supply tightened up last month with new listings dipping 1.8 per cent year-over-year, while the total active inventory of properties available for purchase rose 5.2 per cent.

The average selling price for all homes in July rose 4.8 per cent year-over-year to $782,129, which marked a sequential drop from $807,871 in June.

“We have certainly experienced an increase in demand for ownership housing so far this summer," said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board's director of market analysis, in a release.

"It appears that some people who initially moved to the sidelines due to the psychological impact of the Fair Housing Plan and changes to mortgage lending guidelines have re-entered the market."

The monthly activity across Toronto stands in stark contrast to how Canada's other highly-scrutinized housing market fared in July. On Thursday, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported sales plummeted 30.1 per cent year-over-year to an 18-year low in July.