Realtors in the Greater Toronto Area reported a total of 77,426 home sales through the MLS in 2018, down 16.1% from 2017.
Toronto Real Estate Board says that over the year new listings were down 12.7% to 155,843; while the average selling price across all property types slipped 4.3% year-over-year to $787,300.
Condos fared better with a 7.8% gain in average selling price compared to 2017 and this meant the City of Toronto and its surrounding areas posted a higher average selling price overall due to the large share of condo sales in these markets.
"Higher borrowing costs coupled with the new mortgage stress test certainly prompted some households to temporarily move to the sidelines to reassess their housing options. With this said, it is important to note that market conditions were improved in the second half of the year, both from a sales and pricing standpoint," said Garry Bhaura, TREB President.
Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis and Service Channels, added that there was a clear decline in new listings in 2018 compared to the previous year.
"In many neighbourhoods, despite fewer sales from a historic perspective, some buyers still struggled to find a home meeting their needs. The result was a resumption of a moderate year-over-year pace of home price growth in the second half of the year. Price growth was strongest for less-expensive home types, as many home buyers sought more affordable home ownership options," he said.
