Sales activity and the number of new listings decelerated significantly
Toronto’s housing market essentially ground to a halt in late March as sales activity died down and sellers withdrew their listings amid the current pandemic, according to Realosophy Realty president John Pasalis.
“The market has definitely hit the brakes,” Pasalis told BNN Bloomberg, adding that the Greater Toronto Area saw its new listings significantly decline by 33% last week.
This is despite the average home price increasing by roughly 9% year-over-year in the last full week of March, ending up at around $856,000.
During the same time frame, the rate of cancelled listings went up by 27%. On an annual basis, home sales across the GTA fell by 37%, a sharp departure from the healthy readings just a few weeks prior.
Last month, the region registered its strongest February for new single-family home sales (2,247 transactions) since 2004, according to the Building Industry and Land Development Association. This represented a 228% annual increase, and outstripped the market’s 10-year average by 44%.
Overall, new home sales across the GTA for that month totalled 4,665 transactions, 211% greater year-over-year and 57% higher than the 10-year average.
