February Sees Some Stabilization In The Toronto Market

The big headline in many publications is the statistic showing a decline of 17.9% in the average sale price ($1,095,617) between February 2023 and the same month in 2022.

Although accurate there are some extenuating circumstances.

For one, February 2023 had sales of houses over $2 million down by 72% (288 vs 1017 last year). The loss of that many sales this year certainly influences what the monthly average would turn out to be.

As it turns out, the February 2023 average sales price is the highest it's been for our Toronto regional market since last June.

February sales numbers (4,783) also seemed to stabilize in the +/- 5000 range... similar to what we've seen since July of last year.

What has not stabilized is the number of active listings for sale at the end of the month. That number has been dropping since last September (13,534) with a slight upturn in February (9,643), thereby offering active buyers a reduced choice of homes to pick from.

FEBRUARY 2023 Toronto Real Estate Market Report
 
Here’s a snapshot summary of the significant real estate milestones across the entire Toronto Real Estate Board territory and in the City of Toronto in February 2023 as we move towards the spring market.

• Across the entire TRREB Board, February sales (4,783) were 47% below last year and the lowest for the month in the last 14 years since the 2009 recession
• Active Listings (9,643) were 38% higher than last year but about the same as January
• The ratio of sales-to-listings increased to 50% in February– heading closer to neutral / seller’s market territory
• The February average sale price came in at $1,095,617– a decline of -17.9% from one year ago BUT the highest it’s been since June 2022
• The GTA real estate market ‘velocity’ overall has increased to 22 days-on-market
• Detached home sales in February 2023 with a purchase price over $2,000,000 were down -72% (288 houses) while condo apartment sales over $2M were lower by -44% (15 suites) compared to February 2022
• The CONDO townhouse / highrise share of the market came in at 37.9% during the month and condo sales (1813) declined by just over -48% from 2022
• In the City of Toronto only, detached house sales (3482) were down -39% from 2022 while the average detached sale price ($1,712,364) was down -17% from February 2022
• Similarly, February Toronto semi-detached sales (144) dropped by -45% year-over-year while the average semi sale price ($1,280,380) declined -15%
• Downtown condo active listing numbers were up by +65% in C01 and +69% in C08 from last year
• February year-over-year downtown condo sales were lower in both C01 (-54%) and in C08 (-53%) compared to 2022 with 3-month rolling average sale prices showing an almost flat market (-3.8%) in C01 and down -7% in C08
• The downtown condo days-on-market average dropped to 29 days in C01 and increased slightly to 27 days in C08
• The ratio of sales-to-listings for condos downtown increased in both C01 and C08 to 32% – a definite shift from deep buyer market territory
• As a condo or house investor, still a big positive is the super busy rental market.  Rental prices are climbing across the board for almost every type of rental property
• February saw detached home prices in the 905 districts decline year-over-year by -22% and 905 condominium average sale prices saw declines of -12%.  Sales here also declined substantially (-49% to -46%) from one year ago

Thomas Cook
Thomas@LivingInToronto.com
647-962-1650

Keep Up To Date With Toronto's Real Estate Market
 
Every month we communicate with our readers to give them accurate insights and statistics about what's happening in the Toronto and GTA real estate markets.
 
Subscribe to our free monthly FYI Newsletter HERE