the numbers’ for the April are in.  Tightening market supply, increasing competition, and a gradual recovery in average price continued to be Toronto’s spring market housing story in April.


Overall, April’s home sales remained below 2022. New listings, which traditionally proliferate in the spring market, declined 29%  vs. April 2023. The lack of listings this spring coupled with increasing demand for home ownership helped push prices higher since the beginning of the year.  The average selling price for all types of houses and condos increased about 6% to $1.12M in April over $1.05M in March, though still remains -10% below April 2022.


“Many buyers have come to terms with higher borrowing costs and are taking advantage of lower selling prices compared to this time last year. The issue moving forward will not be the demand for ownership housing, but rather the ability to meet this demand with adequate supply. This is a policy issue that requires sustained effort from all levels of government” said TRREB President Paul Baron.


Looking to buy or sell a home in Toronto?  Average prices in April were as follows:


➕Detached $1,787,752 [-12% vs. 2022]
➕Semi-detached $1,326,462 [-25% vs. 2022]
➕Townhouse $1,053,864 [-20% vs. 2022]
➕Condo $751,916 [-2% vs. 2022]

​Data presented is for City of Toronto Only.   Source: TRREB.

At the 1 year anniversary of the Bank of Canada’s first rate hike of 2022, the Toronto Real Estate market appears to be finding it legs.  As expected when comparing to the peak of early 2022, the number of sales in February 2023 were down significantly [-46%] and selling prices remained down -12% when compared to February 2022.  However, when comparing the same metrics to last month [January 2023], February 2023 data reported +57% growth in sales and +8% growth in average price.  Of particular note, average prices in Toronto’s detached market segment grew +15% in February 2023 vs. January 2023.


It is expected that as Buyers who previously put their purchase on hold come back to the market, this   increased demand will run up against a constrained supply of listings and lead to growing competition for Buyers. With time, this growing competition would likely lead to renewed price growth in many market segments.


Looking to buy or sell a home in Toronto?  Average prices in February were as follows:


➕Detached $1,712,364 [-17% vs. 2022]
➕Semi-detached $1,1280,380  [-15% vs. 2022]
➕Townhouse $1,005,342 [-11% vs. 2022]
➕Condo $728,271 [-11% vs. 2022]

Data presented is for City of Toronto Only.   Source: TRREB.

What began as an extension of 2021’s high-flying real estate buying and selling frenzy soon enough tumbled and fell to a near standstill with the Bank of Canada’s hiking interest rates.  As rates rose, resale home sales fell and property sat on the sidelines far longer than expected, bucking the norm that Toronto’s Sellers had become accustomed to - transitioning Toronto from a strong ‘Sellers Market’ into a ‘Buyers Market’.  Paradoxically 2022, much like 2021, remained another challenging year for home and condo Buyers due to supply and affordability, however the forces at play were quite different.   We’ve taken a retrospective look at the year 2022 and identified the following three insights.   ​

➕‘the numbers’ for the first month of 2023 are in, and as expected, the data reflects a continuation of late 2022 trends.  The number of sales in January were similar to December, but are down significantly [-51%] when compared to the highly active January 2022 market.  Average selling prices in January across all property segments in January were down -8% vs. January 2022 - continuing to reflect the impact of higher borrowing costs.  As of January last year, the prime rate was 2.45% vs. 6.5% for January 2023.


“Home sales and selling prices appear to have found some support in recent months. This coupled with the Bank of Canada announcement that interest rate hikes are likely on hold for the foreseeable future will prompt some buyers to move off the sidelines in the coming months. Record population growth and tight labour market conditions will continue to support housing demand moving forward,” said Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron.
​

Looking to buy or sell a home in Toronto?  Average prices in January were as follows:

➕Detached $1,486,124 [-21% vs. 2022]
➕Semi-detached $1,150,506  [-22% vs. 2022]
➕Townhouse $981,187 [-9% vs. 2022]
➕Condo $711,171 [-7% vs. 2022]
••••••
Data presented is for City of Toronto Only.   Source: TRREB.

➕‘the numbers’ for the last month of 2022 are are in!   December marked a historically quiet month in both sales and new listings - driven largely by seasonality and the continued aggressive Bank of Canada rate hikes. However there were a couple noteworthy insights in the monthly data.


First, both the detached and condo market segments experienced month over month price growth.  Average selling prices for detached homes increased +4% vs. November, and condos increased +1%. Whereas, the semi-detached and townhouse segments declined.


Secondly, the December market type moved back into a ‘Sellers’ market as total December sales were 77% of December new listings. Note: Any percentage above 60% is in ’Sellers’ market territory.   It’ll be interesting to see whether this market type will persist in 2023 given the trending low level of new listings.


All that said, the more interesting insights will be found when looking at the full year. We’ll be providing a full recap of 2022 in our our upcoming annual year-in-review report!


Looking to buy or sell a home in Toronto? Average prices in December were as follows:
➕Detached $1,627,635  [-4% vs. 2021]
➕Semi-detached $1,152,073  [-14% vs. 2021]
➕Townhouse $878,984 [-12% vs. 2021]
➕Condo $741,584 [+1% vs. 2021]

••••••
Data presented is for Toronto Only.   Source: TRREB.