Toronto home sales fall for fifth straight month in October

Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home sales fell in October for the fifth consecutive month as higher borrowing costs kept buyers sidelined, while the average price of a home was little changed. Seasonally adjusted sales fell 5% in October from September, extending a string of declines since June, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) data showed on Thursday.

Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home sales fell in October for the fifth consecutive month as higher borrowing costs kept buyers sidelined, while the average price of a home was little changed.

Seasonally adjusted sales fell 5% in October from September, extending a string of declines since June, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) data showed on Thursday. Sales were also down on a year-over-year basis without adjusting for seasonal variation, falling 5.8% to 4,646 homes.

"Record population growth and a relatively resilient GTA economy have kept the overall demand for housing strong," TRREB President Paul Baron said in a statement. "However, more of that demand has been pointed at the rental market, as high borrowing costs and uncertainty on the direction of interest rates has seen many would-be home buyers remain on the sidelines in the short term."

Last week, the Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate on hold at a 22-year high of 5% but left the door open to more tightening to tame inflation that could exceed its target for another two years. The average price of a home was up 3.5% compared to the same month last year at C$1,125,928 ($813,179) but was down 15.6% from the February 2022 peak. The seasonally adjusted average price was little changed month-over-month, edging up 0.2% after three straight months of declines.

New listings rose 38% year-over-year to 14,397 homes but on a seasonally adjusted basis were down 2.9% compared to the previous month, the first such decline since March. ($1 = 1.3846 Canadian dollars)