Sales drop significantly but prices dip marginally

March continued to favour homebuyers in the GTA. Average home prices dipped year-over-year and month-over-month amidst much lower borrowing costs. There was ample choice in homes with new listings up by 28.6 per cent yearover-year. Despite this, many homebuyers remained on the sidelines, concerned with the prospect of a trade war with the United States and global economic uncertainty. Sales were down by 23.1 per cent compared to the same month last year.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) forecasts that home sales will improve once economic concerns are eased. “Homeownership has become more affordable over the past 12 months, and we expect further rate cuts this spring. Buyers will also benefit from increased choice, giving them greater negotiating power. Once consumers feel confident in the economy and their job security, home buying activity should improve,” says Elechia Barry-Sproule, TRREB President.

The best way to see the shift in GTA’s housing market over the past year is to look at a metric called the months of inventory (MOI), which measures the balance between supply and demand. We look at the number of homes available for sale, and we divide that by the number of sales over a particular month, and it tells us how quickly it would take the market to clear all the inventory for that month. So, a market with two months of inventory is competitive. A market with six months of inventory is a lot slower. The MOI for March 2025 was 4.68 compared to the MOI for March 2024 which was at 1.9, signalling a definite shift from a sellers' market to a buyer’s market.

The average price for all property types across the GTA only dipped 2.5 per cent year- over-year to $1,093,254. In the City of Toronto, the average price for a detached home reached $1,723,489, notching up 1.1 per cent year-over-year, and a semi-detached home in the City climbed to $1,337,498, growing a solid 2.6 per cent from March 2024. The average price of a condo in the GTA declined 2.6 per cent to $682,019 year-over-year.

“Given the current trade uncertainty and the upcoming federal election, many households are likely taking a wait-and-see approach to home buying. If trade issues are solved or public policy choices help mitigate the impact of tariffs, home sales will likely increase,” says Jason Mercer, TRREB’s Chief Information Officer.