Home sales in Toronto have fallen off a cliff.
The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) said that home sales across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada’s biggest housing market, fell 69% year-over-year during the first 17 days of April as just 1,654 homes traded hands.
New real estate listings nearly matched that decline, slumping 63.7% from the same time last year. Prices were relatively steady in the month, according to TREB, as the average cost declined just 1.5% from the same period in 2019 to $819,665.
The coronavirus pandemic has halted momentum that had propelled Toronto’s average home price above $900,000 in recent months as sales routinely posted double-digit gains, while inventory failed to keep pace with demand.
All the major home categories faced sharp declines in activity in the first half of April, with the condo market hit hardest as sales sank 72% year-over-year. Meanwhile, prices fell most sharply in the detached property market, falling an average 4.6% to $990,543.
In its mid-month update, TREB said it expects sales activity in the GTA will fall most sharply in the second quarter of this year due to social distancing, adding that a recovery will take hold in the fall if current public health forecasts unfold as anticipated.