Toronto home prices rise, but sales slow in March
Toronto home prices rose in March, but sales declined compared to a year ago, mixed results that the region’s real estate board attributed in part to an extra statutory holiday in the month.
According to monthly figures from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), benchmark home prices rose by 2.5 per cent month over month and 0.3 per cent year over year to $1,121,615. The number of homes that changed hands, however, slipped 4.5 per cent year over year to 6,560 units. New listings, meanwhile, surged by 15 per cent over the same period.
In a press release, TRREB said the sales slowdown was in part due to Good Friday falling in March this year, rather than April.
TRREB president Jennifer Pearce said market conditions were improving despite the slowdown and lower borrowing costs expected later in the year would accelerate that trend.
“We have seen a gradual improvement in market conditions over the past quarter,” Pearce said in the report. “More buyers have adjusted to the higher interest rate environment. At the same time, homeowners may be anticipating an improvement in market conditions in the spring, which helps explain the marked increase in new listings so far this year.”
Pearce said that if borrowing costs decrease in the near future, sales will likely increase, new listings will be absorbed and tighter market conditions will push selling prices higher.
TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer also said prices are expected to trend upward in the coming months if borrowing costs decline as expected.
While TRREB maintained an optimistic outlook for the spring market, economists and industry observers are being more cautious. Desjardins economist Marc Desormeaux said market conditions and the performance of the economy are not looking particularly robust this spring.
“We wouldn’t necessarily interpret the March results from TRREB as indicative of a lot of strength in the market or in the economy. You know, sales were down year over year. The average price was only up about 1 per cent year over year, which is below the rate of inflation,” Desormeaux said.