The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) has released the housing figures for October. With 4961 sales reported on the local MLS, transactions were down 49.1% year-over-year and 1.5% month-over-month.
New listings were down 11.6% year-over-year, and the total of 11,749 represents the lowest number of new listings for the month of October since 2010. At month’s end, there were 13,023 active listings, representing a 2.63-month supply heading into November, which is down from Septembers 2.69 month supply that was heading into October.
The persistent lack of inventory helps explain why the downward trend in home prices experienced in the spring has flattened over the past three months. As such, for the third straight month, the average sales price for homes sold was on the rise, reaching $1,089,428.
The MLS Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark, which serves as a measure of annual inflation in the market, was down 1.34% from October 2021, and down from 4.25% in September 2022.
Looking at price by housing type, detached homes sold for an average of $1,372,438. This is a year-over-year decrease of 11% and a month-over-month increase of 0.2%. The average price for semi-detached homes was $1,079,393 (-6.2%/+3.5%), townhomes showed an average of $919,903 (-3.9%/+2%), and the average price of condos was $716,515 (+1.8%/-2%). The average sale took place in 21 days on the market, down from 23 days in September, and at 98% of the listing price. September also had sales at 98% of listing price.
Despite the continued move to higher borrowing costs, the average selling price in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has found support in recent months, nearing $1.1 million since the late summer. While GTA home sales continued to adjust to higher interest rates in October, we have NOT seen a rise in available properties adding additional downward pressure to pricing.
So, rather than trending down, prices have levelled off and, in fact, are trending ever so slightly upwards. Supply and Demand being the driving force. Does this mean we will see no more corrections? A few months aren’t enough to make a forecast, but the immediate trend is that prices are levelling off.
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