Toronto out-pricing Vancouver housing prices in February is a stark reminder of just how difficult it has become to afford a home in the GTA. Sitting at $1,334,544, the average selling price for all home types is up 27.7%. In fact, in the last week of February almost 30 homes sold for more than $500,000 above asking.
But it’s not all bad news. I’ve been keeping my eye on inventory in the hopes of seeing some semblance of balance return to the Toronto real estate market. Lo and behold the slightest of changes could indicate we might move towards a more balanced market.
To be clear, new listings still dropped, but not as dramatically as we’ve seen in past months. Another possible factor that could help balance supply and demand is higher borrowing costs. This could reduce demand and in turn, help moderate pricing.
Home sales were down, but we still saw the second-best results for February historically. Buyers continue to duke it out in the offers arena, supporting those double-digit increases we keep seeing year-over-year. The Sales-to-New-Listings Ratio is hopeful as it came in at 64% in February. In January, it was at 70%, 10% above the higher end of the ideal number which we like to see stay below 60%. So, 64% is looking pretty good about now.
All in all, things look a little brighter in a roundabout way. If more buyers choose to regroup due to higher borrowing costs, we could see demand shrink. If listings remain the same or increase, it could help moderate pricing to balance out the market a bit.
Photo by Piret Ilver on Unsplash
