(Toronto) Prospective buyers in the Greater Toronto Area found significantly fewer homes on the market last month than a year ago, pushing sales down and prices rising.
A total of 9,783 homes in the region changed hands last month, a drop of nearly 7% from the record number of 10,503 recorded in October 2020, the region’s real estate board said on Wednesday.
Despite this decline, this result becomes the second highest level for an October, even as the number of new registrations fell by around a third compared to October 2020.
The real estate board interpreted these numbers as a sign of tightening conditions in a market that is already among the most expensive in Canada and subject to some of the country’s fiercest bidding wars.
Every type of home was affected by the overheating market, in which fewer people were listing their homes than last year, as a pandemic buying spree ensued, the chamber recalled.
Data showed that new listings for sale fell to 11,740 in October, a drop of more than 34% from 17,806 listings in the same month last year.
Active registrations for the last month were 7,750, up from 17,313 in October 2020.
The fewer homes on the market have provided no respite for buyers, although many still benefit from the lower interest rates that were introduced to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the economy.
The average price of properties sold climbed nearly 20% to nearly $ 1.2 million in October, from $ 968,535 the same month last year, the real estate board said.
The average price of single-detached homes averaged over 1.5 million and that of semi-detached homes reached almost 1.2 million, while that of townhouses reached $ 957,103. The average price of condominiums reached $ 703,698.
This represents year-over-year price growth of almost 28% for single-family homes, 24% for semi-detached properties, 28% for townhouses and 13% for condominiums.