Low interest rates, and low inventories of houses for sale, helped push house prices up almost 9 per cent across the GTA this January over last, according to statistics released by the Toronto Real Estate Board Friday.

The average sale price across the GTA hit $463,534 in January. But average price of a home in the Toronto 416 regions came in just shy of $500,000 — $499,045 — compared to $442,380 in the 905 regions, TREB says.

Some 4,567 GTA homes changed hands through the MLS system last month, up 8.8 per cent from almost 4,200 sales in January, 2011.

“Low inventory levels have kept competition between buyers strong, resulting in robust annual rates of price growth over the last year,” said TREB senior market analyst Jason Mercer.

TREB is hoping that the higher prices will encourage more people to list their homes, which could see more inventory come on the market in the second half of this year.