According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, activity in November’s house sales was approximately half as high as it had been in prior months.
The board claims that Toronto’s real estate market and affordability continue to be under pressure from rising interest rates, which is why November’s 49% drop in sales from the previous year to 4,544 purchases.
According to the report, the overall number of 8,880 new listings for the month was down from previous month and down roughly 12% from a year ago.
The market has slowed down a bit, in part because sellers are reluctant to list because they think they won’t sell for as much as they would have 10 or 12 months ago when the market was booming.
The average price across all property types decreased by 7.2% in November compared to the same month last year, while the composite benchmark price decreased by 5.5%.
A detached home’s average price dropped 11.3% to $1.39 million, while a condo’s average price dropped just 0.9% to $709,000 in the past year.
According to a news release from TRREB’s chief market analyst Jason Mercer, selling prices witnessed reductions early in the year as interest rates began to climb, but have remained mostly stable in recent months.
“The significant falling price trend that began in the spring has ended. Since the summer, both selling prices and average monthly mortgage payments have stagnated.
According to TRREB president Kevin Crigger, the market’s general decline is more of a short-term trend, with supply being the longer-term worry given the significant amount of record immigration that will go to the Toronto region.
Inflation and borrowing prices won’t be the long-term issue for policymakers; rather, they will need to make sure there is enough housing to handle population expansion.
The real estate board of greater Vancouver reported this week that house sales were down 53% from a year earlier in Vancouver, and Toronto’s sales figures demonstrated a similar pattern.
