Home sales, prices up from last June but down from May: Toronto real estate board

Toronto homebuyers that snapped up a property last month paid more on average than they did a year ago but less than they would have if they closed the deal in May, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) said Thursday.

The Ontario housing board made the same observation about last month's sales figures and attributed the trends to a mix of market conditions that have left interest in buying a home high but mortgage rates tough to grapple with and supply tight.

"Home sales were hampered last month by uncertainty surrounding the Bank of Canada's outlook on inflation and interest rates," Paul Baron, the board's president, said in a news release.

"Furthermore, a persistent lack of inventory likely sidelined some willing buyers because they couldn't find a home meeting their needs. Simply put, you can't buy what is not available."

While 2023 opened with buyers sidelined as interest rates climbed and prospective sellers spooked from selling their homes because there were fewer bidding wars, recent months started to suggest the market was rebounding.

From February to May, average prices and sales ticked up once more and sellers started to have the confidence to list their homes again.

June's numbers have broken away from the trend.

The average home sold for $1,182,120 last month, up 3.2 per cent from the June before. However, the price was below the average of $1,195,929 that homes went for in May.

Prices of detached, semi-detached and townhouse properties were up on a year-over-year basis across both the suburban 905 area code and the much more urban 416.

Condo apartments were a different story, with prices dropping on average by 1.1 per cent from last year. The change was meagre a mere 0.2 per cent in the 416 but higher in the 905, where it dropped by 1.1 per cent.

Across the entire region, the board found sales totalled 7,481, compared with 6,422 the June before and 8,997 in May.

Detached sales were up 13.3 per cent to 3,377 year-over-year, while semi-detached properties rose 7.4 per cent to 678 in the same period. Townhouses were up 13.1 per cent at 1,233 and condo apartments climbed 27.2 per cent to 2,122.

New listings down from last June

New listings across the market totalled 15,865, down about three per cent from the prior June.

The numbers came a day after the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver shared that last month's home prices ticked up from May as prospective homebuyers faced a dearth of supply in the region.

The area's composite benchmark sat at more than $1.2 million last month, down 2.4 per cent from June 2022 but up 1.3 per cent from May.

Sales in the market totalled 2,988 last month, a 21.1 per cent increase from a year ago.

New listings hit 5,348 last month compared with 5,278 in June 2022.