Home sales in Toronto rose 44% year-over-year in October as lower interest rates lead potential buyers to move off the sidelines and enter the real estate market.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) says that 6,658 homes were sold in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during October, up 44.4% from 4,611 in the same month last year.
The average selling price of a home in Greater Toronto was up 1.1% compared with a year earlier at $1.13 million.
The real estate board said that homebuyers appear to be motivated by lower interest rates charged on mortgages and home equity lines of credit, which is prompting a rise in sales.
New home listings in Toronto during October totalled 15,328, up 4.3% from a year earlier.
Vancouver Becoming A ‘Seller’s Market’
It was a similar story in Vancouver, where home sales rose 31.9% year-over-year in October.
According to the Greater Vancouver Realtors Association, a total of 2,632 properties were sold during the month, up from 1,996 in October 2023.
The realtor association attributed the increased sales to lower interest rates that are spurring people to again buy homes on Canada’s West Coast.
However, the October sales in Vancouver were 5.5% below the 10-year seasonal average of 2,784, according to market data.
Total housing inventory in Vancouver rose to 14,477 units in October, a 24.8% increase year-over-year and 26.2% above the long-term average.
At the same time, a sales-to-active listings ratio of 18.8% suggests that Vancouver’s housing market is nearing a seller’s threshold.
The Greater Vancouver Realtors Association said that October’s strong numbers may suggest renewed momentum in the city’s housing market which could accelerate as interest rates continue to decline.
Since June of this year, the Bank of Canada has lowered interest rates a total of 1.25%, with more cuts expected in coming months now that inflation across the country has eased.