In a little over a month, life, as we knew it, completely changed as the province enacted strict stay-at-home measures to keep residents safe and to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The state of emergency declaration put a damper on every industry including the real estate market, which was on track to have a busy (if not red hot) spring season, saw a shift in activity.
According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), GTA home prices and sales started off strong during the first two weeks of March before declining in the weeks to follow as physical distancing measures were implemented.
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To get a better understanding of how the pandemic impacted the market during the 'post-COVID period' or the time after COVID-19 measures were put into effect, Zoocasa used TRREB data to calculate the change in average home prices and sales across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) between March 16 and April 15, 2020, by comparing the same period in 2019.
Zoocasa learned that home sales dropped over 50% y-o-y during this time in most GTA regions, with the exception of the Durham Region, where sales only dropped 30%. However, despite the drop in overall sales, Zoocasa found that all 27 GTA municipalities — save for two, Toronto Central and King — experienced y-o-y price growth.
Here in Toronto, the average price of sold homes increased 4% y-o-y, hitting $918,796 from March 16 to April 15, according to Zoocasa. A closer break down shows Toronto East experienced double-digit growth of 14% during this time, bringing the average price to $872,658, while Toronto West saw an 8% increase, bringing the average home price to $863,643.
However, Toronto Central was one of two municipalities out of 27 in the GTA where prices actually saw declines, taking a 1% drop in prices to $984,332.
Sales also experienced "sharp declines." The City of Toronto as a whole saw a 54% drop in transactions with 1,456 sales taking place, while Toronto Central saw transactions decline 57% with just 634 transactions.
Data from just the first two weeks of April also shows that both sales and prices continue to drop steadily.
Here is how each GTA community has fared over the past month, from March 16 to April 15, when compared with the same 30-day stretch last year.
Zoocasa
