With Good Friday falling in March this year, last month was a quieter one for Greater Toronto Area home sales compared to the year prior. The latest figures from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) show that there were 6,560 transactions recorded, marking a 4.5% decrease over March 2023.
Even with that being the case, sales were up close to 17% compared to February. In addition, the figures show that sales recorded over the first quarter of the year were up 11.2% compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, on the inventory front, new listings were down 3% over February, but up 18.3% in the first quarter and 15% year over year.
TRREB also noted on Wednesday that “despite a better-supplied market compared to last year, there was enough competition between buyers to see a moderate increase in the average March home price compared to last year’s level.”
Putting numbers to that statement: the latest figures show that the MLS® Home Price Index Composite benchmark edged up 0.3% year over year, while the average selling price grew 1.3% to $1,121,615.
While the housing market picture, on the whole, was a bit nuanced last month, TRREB President Jennifer Pearce said that the numbers were encouraging, and bode well for how the rest of spring will play out.
“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. “Assuming we benefit from lower borrowing costs in the near future, sales will increase further, new listings will be absorbed, and tighter market conditions will push selling prices higher.”
TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer, also pointed out that we will soon start to see the return of sellers’ market conditions in many Toronto neighbourhoods.
