Toronto home sales rose in September as buyers took advantage of lower rates, prices

Impact of high interest rates on housing in GTA The Toronto area is seeing an uptick in home sales as interest rates declined, but housing starts are also down due to high interest costs.

Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area rose in September as buyers began taking advantage of a more accessible market, said the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

The region saw 4,996 existing homes sold last month, up 8.5 per cent compared with last year, and up 3.3 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with August.

The rise in sales came as prices dipped and as lower interest rates improved affordability.

"With every rate cut, a growing number of GTA households will afford a long-term investment in home ownership, including first-time buyers," said board president Jennifer Pearce in a statement.

She said the recently introduced changes to mortgage rules set to take effect in December, including longer amortization periods and a higher price cap on insured mortgages, will help lead to further increases in sales.

The average selling price for a Toronto-area home was down one per cent in September compared with a year earlier at $1,107,291, while the seasonally adjusted price was down 0.1 per cent to $1,116,811 compared to August.

The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 4.6 per cent year-over-year.

New listings more than made up for the increase in sales, rising 10.5 per cent to 18,089, leaving the sales-to-new listings ratio unchanged from last year.

And while sales rose, the amount of time it took to make a sale was up 43.3 per cent, now taking about 43 days to sell a home.

The rise in sales also varied considerably by property type, with detached home sales up 10.5 per cent from last year, while the struggling condo market saw sales up only 0.8 per cent.

Sales remained well below their historical average, and the situation isn't expected to reverse in the short term, said National Bank economist Alexandra Ducharme in a note.

"Despite the start of the Bank of Canada's monetary easing cycle, affordability conditions remain extremely difficult in Toronto. This, combined with a rapid deterioration of the labour market that we expect to continue, does not point to an imminent convincing rebound in home sales."

However, she said the continued easing of interest rates and mortgage rules could help in the coming months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.