Toronto Real Estate Market Prices Took A Big Drop & So Many Homes In Feb Sold For Under $1M

Let's talk about Toronto's real estate market. In February 2023, the average selling price of homes in the Greater Toronto Area fell by almost 18 percent compared to the same month the previous year. That's a big drop!

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) found that over half of the homes sold in Toronto during February were below $1 million, which is an increase from the 38 percent recorded in the previous year.

TRREB's President, Paul Baron, said that the drop in prices is due to higher borrowing costs from interest rate hikes. But here's the catch — overall sales were down by 47 percent from the previous year, with only 4,783 sales reported by GTA REALTORS in February.

While prices and sales are down, TRREB believes that the market will bounce back later in the year because buying intentions have increased for 2023.

But that's a catch-22; the limited listings available will cause more competition between buyers. So, the demand for homes might increase, but there's also a limited supply.

TRREB reports that all property types dropped by 17.7 percent compared to February 2022. Single-family detached homes saw the largest drop in prices, with a decline of 19.6 percent, while apartments saw the smallest decrease, with prices down by 10.76 percent.

In terms of regions, Durham Region saw the largest drop in prices, with the composite index down by 23 percent. Halton Region and Orangeville also experienced significant declines of around 21 to 22 percent.

The issue of limited housing supply in the GTA will likely continue to be a hot topic during the mayoral by-election in June.

The TRREB's CEO John DiMichele is calling for "[n]ew and innovative solutions" to address the housing supply problem, "including the City of Toronto's plan to allow duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in all neighbourhoods citywide to support the record population growth in the years to come."

So, fingers crossed for the real estate market! Hopefully, things will pick up soon, and people can find their dream homes without breaking the bank.