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The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board published their monthly Market Watch report last week, offering insights on the state of the GTA’s real estate market in the month of March. Indicators of a tightening market are on the rise, with an increase in the number of sales compared to the slumping rates of previous months, as well as a boost in sale prices.
Beginning with the details on the rising value of homes, the month of March saw the average sale price exceed the average list price for the first time since May of 2022. Coming in at an average of $1,108,606, home prices were still 14.6% lower than they were in March of 2022, but the rise in value on a monthly basis strongly suggests that a rebound in the GTA market is afoot.
Realtors using TRREB’s Multiple Listings Service (MLS) reported a total of 6,896 sales in the GTA in the month of March. Compared to March of 2022, this total represents a decline by a harsh margin of 36.5%, but looking at the rate of sales as recently as a month ago, which saw an even steeper decline of 47%, these findings would suggest that the market is entering its most active period in months.
How these increases in both sales and value play out in the market is by increasing competition between prospective buyers. “As we moved through the first quarter, TRREB Members were increasingly reporting that competition between buyers was heating up in many GTA neighbourhoods,” said TRREB President Paul Baron.
Adding on further observations, Barron pointed out that “recent consumer polling also suggests that demand for ownership housing will continue to recover this year. Look for first-time buyers to lead this recovery, as high average rents move more closely in line with the cost of ownership.”
Along with sales, the total number of new listings was also up notably compared to last month, but remained well below the rates reported at this time last year. The 11,184 listings that entered the market in the month of March is a considerable increase compared to last month’s total of 8,367; but with 20,061 new listings reported in March 2022, the market is still lagging behind by a margin of about 44%.
“As population growth continues at a record pace on the back of immigration, first-time buying intentions will remain strong. Because the number of homes for sale is expected to remain low, it will also be important to have substantial rental supply available,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele. “Unfortunately, this is not something we have at the present time. We need to see a policy focus on bringing more purpose-built rental units on line over the next number of years,”
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