The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.
The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 percent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 percent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The average selling price was up 1.1 percent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 percent year-over-year.
“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.
“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”
The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 percent, down from the high of five percent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.
New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier.
In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 percent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 percent to 4,149.
All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.
Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 percent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 percent and semi-detached homes at 44 percent. There were 33.4 percent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.
“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.
“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”
