Tight Toronto Housing Market Pushes Prices Up

Home sales dropped in Toronto in December, but prices rose as demand outstripped a supply of units available for purchase. The number of homes sold in Canada’s largest city fell 3 per cent from November, the biggest decline since February, the Toronto Real Estate Board said Tuesday. Still, benchmark prices kept climbing, rising 0.5 per cent last month to record highs and bringing gains to 7.3 per cent from the previous year, the fastest pace of year-over-year growth since 2017. Toronto’s housing market has tightened considerably over the past year as buyers took advantage of lower interest rates and adjusted to mortgage stress tests, but there are fewer homes to be bought. In December, the sales to new listings ratio — a measure of market balance — reached 1.25, pointing to a market tilted heavily in favour of sellers.