Toronto home prices flat in October as listings decline steeply

The average price of a Toronto home was virtually unchanged from the previous month in October as the market appeared to stabilize amid a steep decline in new listings.

The latest data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) shows that the average resale price across all property types was $1,089,428 in October, compared to $1,086,762 in September.

While it should be noted that prices were still down 5.7 per cent compared to this time last year, October did mark the third consecutive month with little or no change in TRREB’s benchmark index.

New listings also continue to decrease, with the number of properties coming on the market in October down 11.6 per cent from October 2021 and essentially at a 12-year-low for the month.

The number of transactions in October (4,961) was comparable to the previous month (5,027) but still down more than 49 per cent from the same month in 2021.

In a news release, TRREB said that the market is clearly continuing to “adjust to substantially higher interest rates.”

But it said that the “persistent lack of inventory” explains in part why the downward trend in home prices experienced earlier this year appears to have at least “flattened.”

This is despite warnings from RBC that Canada could see a historic housing correction driven by costlier markets in Toronto and Vancouver.

 “With new listings at or near historic lows, a moderate uptick in demand from current levels would result in a noticeable tightening in the resale housing market in short order,” TRREB President Kevin Crigger warned in the release.

Home prices have been steadily declining since the Bank of Canada began aggressively hiking interest rates in March.

The TRREB data suggests that costlier detached homes have been hit the hardest, with an average price decline of 11 per cent over the last year.

The average price of a condominium apartment, meanwhile, remains up year-over-year albeit only marginally (1.8 per cent).

“Home prices in the GTA have found support in recent months because price declines in the spring and summer mitigated the impact of higher borrowing costs on average monthly mortgage payments,” TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer pointed out in the news release. “The Bank of Canada’s most recent messaging suggests they are reaching the end of their tightening cycle. Bond yields dipped, as a result, suggesting that fixed mortgage rates may trend lower moving forward, which would help affordability.”