Newly listed GTA homes his 20-year low for September

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The number of newly listed homes in the Greater Toronto Area hit a 20-year low for the month of September.

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB)’s latest Market Watch report, there were just 11,237 new listings in the region last month, a 16.7% annual decline and the lowest number of new listings reported for the month of September since 2002.

The figure is “especially troublesome,” the board said, as the stock of homes in the GTA has increased significantly over the last 20 years.

Home sales were also down significantly in September, with only 5,038 properties changing hands across the GTA as the market “continued to adjust to higher borrowing costs.” The figure is an annual decline of 44.1% and a 10.4% drop from August.

In early September, the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate to 3.25%. The 0.75% hike was the fifth of the year.

“We must ensure that the temporary dip in housing demand is not allowed to mask the critical shortage of homes available for sale in the GTA,” said TRREB President Kevin Crigger.

With Ontario’s municipal elections just weeks away, Crigger urged candidates to ensure that both buyers and renters have access to adequate housing options in the years to come.

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At $1,086,762, the average sale price of a GTA home was up a slight 0.67% month-over-month in September. However, on an annual basis, prices were down 4.3%.

Although the average price of a condo apartment increased on an annual basis — up 3.2% to $730,818 — all other property types saw prices drop last month.

Townhouses experienced a 0.9% decline to $901,592, while the average price of a semi-detached homes fell 6.5% to $1,043,120. The largest annual decline was seen amongst detached homes – prices dropped 10.2% to $1,369,186.

“Hovering just below $1,100,000, the average selling price may have found some support during the last couple months of summer,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

“With new listings down quite substantially year-over-year and well-below historic norms, some home buyers are quite possibly experiencing tighter market conditions in some GTA neighbourhoods. October generally represents the peak of the fall market, so it will be important to see where price trends head over the next month.”