TRREB: real estate sales rose by 25% from a year ago, while supply is still low
It looks like the slowdown in Toronto’s real estate market keeps fading as home sales in May were higher than a year ago, while prices are near pandemic high levels.
According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), last month there were 9,012 home sales, which is 25% more than in May 2022 and 20% more than in April.
Jason Mercer, TRREB’s chief market analyst, says the demand for housing has increased significantly during the recent months after many potential buyers left the market affected by eight consecutive rate increases.
“Many of them have reviewed and adjusted their housing needs amid higher borrowing costs and are returning to the market,” – he explained.
“Moreover, strong rent growth and record population growth on the wave of immigration have also driven home sales.”
Nevertheless, home sellers are still waiting for higher prices and are not eager to list their properties as quickly as buyers are coming back to the market.
May showed that supply is not keeping up with demand as new listings remained well below last year’s numbers.
Last month, there were 15,194 new listings reported, which is almost 19% lower than a year earlier.
“The supply hasn’t kept up with sales, so we’ve faced upward pressure on prices in spring,” – Mercer noted.
The average home price reached $1,196,101 in May, marking an almost 1% decline from May 2022 and an about 4% increase from April.
The report says the average price of a townhouse was up by 2.5% to $1,003,152 on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, the average cost of detached homes rose by less than 1% and reached $1,556,566.
Semi-detached houses showed a small annual decline to $1,198,185, while condo prices went down by 3% to $748,483.
The average home price this year is approximately $1,135,595 right now compared with $1,189,730 in 2022 and $1,095,475 in 2021.
Sales and Average Prices by Major Home Type
| Sales | Average Price | |||||
| May 2023 | 416 | 905 | Total | 416 | 905 | Total |
| Detached | 970 | 3,079 | 4,049 | 1,913,132 | 1,444,234 | 1,556,566 |
| YoY % change | 20.3% | 22.2% | 21.8% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.6% |
| Semi-Detached | 286 | 501 | 787 | 1,398,821 | 1,083,651 | 1,198,185 |
| YoY % change | -8.9% | 15.7% | 5.4% | -2.0% | 3.9% | -0.5% |
| Townhouse | 307 | 1,217 | 1,524 | 1,068,487 | 986,671 | 1,003,152 |
| YoY % change | 15.8% | 24.3% | 22.5% | 1.8% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Condo Apt | 1,694 | 874 | 2,568 | 784,914 | 677,874 | 748,483 |
| YoY % change | 34.3% | 49.9% | 39.3% | -1.1% | -6.3% | -3.0% |
Year-over-year Summary
| 2023 | 2022 | % Change | |
| Sales | 9,012 | 7,226 | 24.7% |
| New Listings | 15,194 | 18,687 | -18.7% |
| Active Listings | 11,868 | 15,430 | -23.1% |
| Average Price | $1,196,101 | $1,210,372 | -1.2% |
| Avg. LDOM | 14 | 12 | 16.7% |
| Avg. PDOM | 20 | 18 | 11.1% |