As Greater Toronto Area homeowners continue to find themselves going toe-to-toe with affordability, it appears that they’ve become “less stubborn” when it comes to what they’ll let their properties sell for. In fact, new data from prop-tech platform Wahi shows that a whopping 70% of properties sold across the GTA last month were offloaded for less than the listed price as “overall bidding competition further cooled.”
Wahi’s data, released on Thursday, also shows that just 27% of homes sold above asking last month, while just 3% sold at the listed price.
To put those figures into perspective, 60% of homes sold for below-ask in August 2023, 37% were sold for over, and 4% sold at the listed price. Last month, in July, those same figures clocked in at 68%, 29%, and 3%.
“Declining interest rates had yet to spark more widespread bidding wars in the GTA last month as home sales continued to lag last year’s pace. In August, home sales across the region totalled 4,729, down about 11% from the same month in 2023,” Wahi said. “While some would-be buyers may have been waiting for additional rate cuts last month, house hunters who took action last month had some opportunity to negotiate.”
Wahi
Speaking to Thursday’s data, Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen said that “homebuyers who decided to act this August before the fall market gets underway managed to obtain below list prices,” and that this was especially true of condo buyers.
According to Wahi’s estimates, 78% of condo units sold below asking in August, and that figure was up 76% month over month and 70% year over year.
“When only looking at single-family houses — including detached, semi-detached, row, and townhomes — the share of properties that sold below asking falls to 67%, albeit up two percentage points month-over-month,” Wahi said. “In August 2023, approximately half (55%) of single-family homes that sold had prices reduced from listing.”
It’s not so cut and dried, though. A home selling for less than ask doesn’t necessarily equate to a bargain for the buyer, Katchen said. “The home could have been listed above what it was reasonably valued at.”
Wahi
“The uptick in the share of homes selling for less than asking was also reflected at the neighbourhood level,” Wahi said. “Out of the 272 neighbourhoods where at least five homes sold in August, 89% (242) were in underbidding territory, up from 82% (227) in July. This represents the highest share of neighbourhoods in underbidding territory since January, when 98% of neighbourhoods saw prices bid down.”
When ranking GTA neighbourhoods for underbidding, Eastlake, in Oakville, comes out on top. August “marks the 15th straight month that Eastlake has secured a place in the top five, making it the most consistently underbid neighbourhood in the GTA,” Wahi said. After Eastlake, the North York neighbourhoods of Hogg's Hollow, York Mills, and Cachet ranked particularly high for underbidding, as well as Mississauga's Port Credit.
Wahi
Wahi's data additionally shows that Rouge Woods in Richmond Hill was the top GTA neighbourhood for overbidding in August. The Danforth (in Old Toronto), Parkwoods (in North York), Raymerville (in Markham), and Doncrest (also in Richmond Hill) made up the rest of the top five.
“Note that when a neighbourhood is in overbidding territory, it doesn’t guarantee that every home is selling above-asking. Instead, it’s a general reflection of overall market behaviour, which can be influenced by seasonal factors, for example,” the prop-tech company said. “It can also be affected by decisions by sellers, such as to list homes below market value to try and attract more bids.”
