The upward swing in the average GTA home price that we saw in March continued, but with some extra punch in April. We saw 4% growth, month-to-month, from $1,108,606 to $1,153,269. While it’s still 7.8% lower than April 2022 ($1,250,704), we are up 11% from January 2023 ($1,038,688).
When we look back at 2022 for a comparable month, we find June 2022. Basically, the market is on an upturn, whereby last year at the same time, prices were decreasing.
GTA
The total sales volume increase was only 9.2% from March to April. This is much lower than the increase of +44.3% from February to March and +54.3% from January to February. The 7,531 sales were the third lowest of any April. This is attributed to the continued lack of listings, which is consistent with previous months. Compared to April 2022, sales are down 5.2% (7,940 to 7,531).
New listings were only up 1.6% in April from March, from 11,184 to 11,344. In contrast, February to March featured a 29.5% increase. We typically see a bump this time of year, for example April 2022 had 18,416 new listings. Since sales are down only 5.2% from last but new listings are down 38.3% this means what’s out there is getting snapped-up quickly.
We see a return to a stronger sellers market again when we look at active listings. Active listings grew by only 2.5% from March to April 2023 (10,120 to 10,373) indicating inventory is being absorbed. March 2023 year-over-year active listings were only 0.4% lower than March 2022 while April’s active listings are 20.8% lower than April of 2022 (13,092).
All metrics indicate that the market is stronger than April last year and that we are continuing to see stronger market conditions month over month. This varies depending on the specific area and local supply.
Toronto
Toronto real estate prices maintained their steady growth as spring approached. With increased competition between buyers over a lack of listings, this isn’t a surprise. And even though new listings were up from March to April, that number is still down significantly from 2022. This has pushed those selling prices higher.
- The average City of Toronto price grew more than the GTA, from $1,054,563 in March to $1,120,352 in April, a 6% increase.
- New listings were up modestly, from 4,318 in March to 4,389 in April (4,292 to 4,452 active).
For Central Toronto compared to last year:
- Detached homes sales volume was down 12% and prices (averaged $2,303,630) down 11%
- Semi-detached homes sales volume was down 33% and prices (average $1,543,683) down 7%
- Condos sales volume was down 5% and prices (average $929,271) down 8%
Short-term Outlook
Even though the average price of a home in the GTA is up 11% since January of this year, the market is still facing a level of stagnation. The shortage of new listings has led many homeowners who are on the fence about selling to stay where they are. And with borrowing costs remaining high, there are a lot of reluctant homeowners unwilling to list their homes even though they may want to move.
But, with borrowing costs unlikely to move much in the next few months, homeowners may just learn to live with the existing costs. Once that happens, supply will increase and get closer to matching demand.
In terms of matching last year’s prices, the summer should see 2023’s average monthly prices exceed 2022’s.
Thinking of moving to the next stage? Let’s chat. Send me an email (hillary@hillarylane.ca) or text/phone (416-882-4707).
Photo by Polina Kovaleva
