April - It's all UP from here
Toronto real estate's market decline is officially over (at least in my opinion). We've now seen several months of slow but steady increases in the average sale price as a market with a diminished listing inventory reacts with multiple offer situations and a low days-on-market number.
Drawing on my 40+ years of Toronto real estate experience, I think we can expect the coming months to continue this drawn-out price gain as mortgage rates stabilize and then start to recede.
Every buyer would like to time the market perfectly. Well, maybe this is the signal that should current mortgage rates allow, they should prepare to step into the purchasing process sooner rather than later to buy for the best price.
Imagine for a moment what will happen when rates start to decline later this year hopefully. Both buyers and sellers who have been sitting on the fence for a few years now will be ready to make a move.
Here’s a ‘highlights’ summary of the significant real estate milestones across the entire Toronto Real Estate Board territory and in the City of Toronto specifically for APRIL 2023 as we move through the spring market.
Across the entire TRREB Board, April sales (7,531) were 37% below last year and the lowest for the month in the last 20 years since 2003 (excepting during the start of the pandemic in April 2020)
Active Listings (10,373) were 21% below the 2022 number
The ratio of sales-to-listings increased to 73% in April– statistically definitely in seller’s market territory
The April average sale price came in at $1,153,269– a decline of -7.8% from one year ago BUT the highest it’s been since June 2022
The GTA real estate market ‘velocity’ overall has increased to 17 days-on-market
Detached home sales in April 2023 with a purchase price over $2,000,000 were lower by -31% (492 houses) while condo apartment sales over $2M were lower by -12% (23 suites) compared to April 2022
The CONDO townhouse / highrise share of the market came in at 36.5% during the month and condo sales (2748) declined by just -3% from 2022
In the City of Toronto only, detached house sales (767) were down -12% from 2022 while the average detached sale price ($1,787,752) was down -8% from April 2022
Similarly, April Toronto semi-detached sales (232) dropped by -25% year-over-year while the average semi sale price ($1,326,462) declined -11%
Downtown condo active listing numbers were up by +2% in C01 and +14% in C08 from last year
April year-over-year downtown condo sales were lower in both C01 (-9.5%) and in C08 (-18%) compared to 2022 with 3-month rolling average sale prices showing modest declines… lower by -7% in C01 and down -4% in C08
The downtown condo days-on-market average averaged between 21 & 23 days in both C01 and C08
The ratio of sales-to-listings for condos downtown stayed steady in both C01 (50%) and in C08 (44%) – an upswing from previous deep buyer market territory in early 2023
As a condo or house investor, still a big positive is the super busy rental market. Rental prices keep climbing across the board for almost every type of rental property
April saw average detached home and condo apartment prices in the 905 districts decline year-over-year by -8%. Sales here showed slight declines (-1% and -4%) from one year ago
Thomas@LivingInToronto.com
647-962-1650