Toronto Detached Real Estate Prices See First Annual Decline Since 2009

Toronto’s detached market is getting hammered. Numbers from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) show cooling prices. This is being accompanied by lower sales, and higher inventory – especially in the City of Toronto proper.

Detached Prices Dropped 2.88% From Last Month

Toronto detached prices are seeing tapering growth, but some indicators were weaker than others in August. The benchmark price of a detached home across TREB is now $936,100, a 2.88% ($27k) decline from the month before. Annually, the benchmark is still up 10.54% from the same month last year. In the City of Toronto, the detached benchmark dropped to $1,100,100, a 4.01% ($46k) decline from the month before. The benchmark in the City of Toronto is still up 8.15% from the same month last year.

In terms of dollars, some neighbourhoods saw the benchmark get hammered more than others. TREB W01, the High Park/Roncesvalles neighbourhood, saw the smallest decline. The detached benchmark in that neighbourhood fell to $1,128,100, which is $14,100 lower than the month before. TREB C12, which is around Lawrence Park, saw the largest dollar drop on the benchmark. The detached benchmark in C12 is now $2,219,600, which is a massive $128,600 lower than just last month.

Source: TREB.

The average sale price of a detached home dropped to $968,494. According to TREB, the 416 saw the average sale price dip to $1,191,052, a 1.2% decline from the same month last year. The 905 saw the average sale price drop to $906,592, a 0.1% decline from the year before. This is the first time average sale prices have showed annual declines since 2009.

Detached Sales Are Down Over 41%

Detached sales continue to decline across the GTA. All TREB regions added up 2,578, a 41.6% decline from the same month last year. Breaking that down, the 416 saw 561 of those sales, which is down 34.8% from last year. The 905 saw 2017 detached sales, a 43.2% decline from the same time last year.

New Listings Are Up 85% In The City of Toronto

Declining sales and a spike in 416 sellers led to more detached inventory. TREB saw 5,697 new listings, a 1.82% increase from last year. The City of Toronto saw 989 of the new listings however, an 85% increase from the year before.

Source: TREB.

Active listings, the number of listings still for sale at month end, also increased. The month ended with 9,215 active listings for detached units, a 117% increase from the same time last year. The City of Toronto proper had 1,584 of those activing listings for detached homes, up 220% from last year. Inventory across TREB is high, but this trend is even stronger in the City of Toronto.

Timing the market is extremely difficult, so recent buyers of detached homes probably shouldn’t worry too much. Speculators however, are going to have a tough time getting out of this one. Declining sales and higher inventory levels could lead to lower asking prices. On the upside, ask prices are pretty close to sale prices these days.

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