October Housing Demand Softens as Homebuyers Retreat Amid 8% Sales Slump
Toronto-area average home sales were down eight per cent in October, while both prices and sales fell across all major housing types as economic uncertainty continued to keep buyers on the sidelines.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) attributed the year-over-year declines to homebuyers holding off amid uncertainty around inflation, borrowing costs and the economy, according to its monthly report released Wednesday.
“There are a lot of homebuyers that would like to take advantage of improved affordability, yet at the same time are concerned about their economic prospects moving forward, like the cost of living and their job situation,” said TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer.
Toronto-area average home sales were down eight per cent in October, while both prices and sales fell across all major housing types as economic uncertainty continued to keep buyers on the sidelines.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) attributed the year-over-year declines to homebuyers holding off amid uncertainty around inflation, borrowing costs and the economy, according to its monthly report released Wednesday.
“There are a lot of homebuyers that would like to take advantage of improved affordability, yet at the same time are concerned about their economic prospects moving forward, like the cost of living and their job situation,” said TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer.
Mercer chalked up the decline to the condo market being “particularly well supplied,” in part because newly completed projects have added more units to both the ownership and rental markets.
“There were a lot of projects that were under construction that have now been completed over the last couple of years. Now, keys are in hand. We have seen prices dip as a result of that,” he said.
In comparison, the average price of a semi-detached home fell less than one per cent to roughly $1.025 million and the average price of a detached home dropped slightly over three per cent to about $1.311 million. The average price of a townhouse fell five per cent to $804,000.
Mercer said townhouses and semi-detached homes can serve as a transitional option for buyers looking to move out of condominiums and into lowrise housing, helping support prices in those segments. Since developers have not built as much of that type of housing, tighter market conditions could help homes sell at higher prices, he added.
Townhouses also saw the largest year-over-year decline in sales, with an 11 per cent drop from the same period last year. Across the GTA, detached home sales were down 4.4 per cent year over year. Semi-detached homes and condo apartments also saw sales decline roughly eight per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
There were 5,603 sales in October, roughly an eight per cent decrease from October 2025.
There were 25,098 active listings across the Toronto area at the end of October, down 10 per cent from a year earlier. The board estimated it would take roughly 4.6 months to sell that many homes at the current rate of demand.
Mercer said buyers continue to have considerable negotiating power in most segments of the GTA market, although declining new listings are beginning to tighten market conditions compared to last year.
The sales-to-new-listings ratio was about 39.5 per cent, suggesting market conditions remain relatively balanced, though they are beginning to shift slightly in favour of sellers as the number of new listings declines, Mercer said. There were 16,500 new listings in the Toronto area last month, compared to 19,270 in October 2025.
Last week, the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate to 2.5 per cent, its first increase since July 2023. Fixed mortgage rates have also been rising in recent weeks.
Mercer said that although borrowing costs have increased following higher inflation, the impact on monthly mortgage payments has been mitigated by lower selling prices, which has helped keep affordability in check.
TRREB president Daniel Steinfeld said a trade deal between Canada and the U.S. could give residents in the Toronto area a clearer picture of the economic outlook.
“Combined with a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East, this could help ease concerns about inflation and economic uncertainty, strengthen consumer confidence and renew interest in home ownership as we move into 2027,” he said.
This article was first reported by The Star
