Lower borrowing costs and mortgage rates are on the horizon which are expected to cause a rebound in home sales this year, according to new housing data.
On Thursday, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) released its last housing report for 2023 and said that the total number of GTA home sales reported last year were less than 70,000 due to ongoing affordability issues driven by high mortgage rates.
The report says there were 65,982 home sales in 2023, a 12.1 per cent decline compared to 2022..
“High borrowing costs coupled with unrealistic federal mortgage qualification standards resulted in an unaffordable home ownership market for many households in 2023,” TRREB President Jennifer Pearce said in a statement.
“With that said, relief seems to be on the horizon. Borrowing costs are expected to trend lower in 2024. Lower mortgage rates coupled with a relatively resilient economy should see a rebound in home sales this year,” she added.
For the month of December alone, there were 3,444 home sales and 3,886 new listings.
Meanwhile, the average price of a home in December was $1,084,692, a 3.2 per cent drop from $1,050,569 in 2022. For a detached home, the average selling price last month was $1,418,323 (up 2.5% y-o-y), while the average price of a condo was $682,525 (down 3.1% y-o-y).
Overall, the average selling price for all home types in 2023 was $1,126,604, a 5.4 per cent decline compared to 2022.
TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer says active buyers in the market benefitted from more choice throughout 2023.
“…This allowed many of these buyers to negotiate lower selling prices, alleviating some of the impact of higher borrowing costs. Assuming borrowing costs trend lower this year, look for tighter market conditions to prompt renewed price growth in the months ahead,” Mercer said in a press release.
Additionally, TRREB CEO John DiMichele says record immigration in the GTA in the coming years will lead to an increase in the number of homes available to rent or purchase.
TRREB is expected to release its 2024 Market Outlook and Year in Review report and digital digest on Feb. 8.
