The residential resale data provided by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board confirms that the Toronto and Region marketplace continued to correct in October, as it has all year. Unfortunately, there is no indication in October’s data that the correction is at an end.
Everyone of the data points in the Year-Over-Year Summary setout above speaks to the on-going market correction. The two most significant lines are the Active Listings and the Average Sale Price. In October 16,069 “new” listings came to market. “New” is a misnomer in that at least 30 percent of those new listings are properties that have been listed in the recent past and are now back on the market at a reduced asking price. The new listings that came to market in October brought the total number of active listings to 27,808, 17.2 percent higher than last October. The 27,808 active listings available to buyers is the highest number of active listings for any October in recorded history. That is a lot of buyer choice! Having said that there were over 30,000 properties on the market during the months of May, June, and July, with a record breaking 31,603 in June.
It’s not surprising therefore that the average sale price once again declined in October. The average sale price came in at $1,054,372, 7.2 percent lower than last October’s average sale price. No property type was immune to price declines. Detached properties declined by 7.3 percent, semi-detached by 6.5 percent, and condominium apartments declined by 4.7 percent, andby almost 11 percent in the 905 Region. The plethora of available properties on the market gave buyers abundant choice, time, and flexibility to negotiate lower sale prices. Semi-detached properties in Toronto’s west and east trading areas closest to the city’s central core were an exception to the overall market correction. In these western districts semi-detached properties sold (on average) in 22 days for 102 percent of their asking price. In Toronto’s eastern districts, Riverdale, Leslieville, the Beaches, and slightly beyond, all properties sold in 15 days for an average sale price 106 percent above the asking price. However, average sale prices for semi- detached properties in Toronto overall declined by almost 7 percent on a year-over-year basis.
The average sale price for all properties reported sold has declined consistently throughout 2025, as it has since its peak in the first quarter of 2022. In the first quarter of 2022 the average sale price for all properties sold (including condominium apartments) peaked at $1,322,000. October’s average sale price of $1,054,372 represents a 20 percent decline from those shocking highs. The average sale price achieved in the first quarter of 2022 was anomalous, pandemic driven, and fueled by preposterously low mortgage borrowing costs. Average sale prices are beginning to reflect market reality, and are very likely close to plateauing, particularly as mortgage financing costs are once again declining. Borrowing costs are still lofty, notwithstanding that in October the Bank of Canada reduced its benchmark rate to 2.25 percent. Except in special circumstances 5-year fixed mortgage rates are still over 4 percent. A large number of buyers, anticipating lower rates in the future, are opting for variable rates, which at the end of October were available for 3.7 percent.
Condominium apartments continue to be the weakest segment of the Toronto and Region resale market. Condominium apartments represent 33 percent of the entire available inventory of properties. Of the 6,138 properties reported sold in October, only 25 percent were condominium apartments. The largest decline in sales was in the 905 Region. In October, sales declined by 16.9 percent, even though the average sale price for condominium apartments in the Region declined to what appears to be an affordable price of $574,111. In the 416 condominium apartment sales declined by 8 percent year-over-year. Average sale prices came in at $699,241, 2.7 percent less than last October. Condominium apartment sales are struggling with historical disfunction.
