It was a tale of two cities in April as home sales in Toronto declined 5% year-over-year during the month while they rose 3.3% in Vancouver.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) said home sales in April were down 5% from the same month in 2023, although new listings rose, creating more choice for buyers.
A total of 7,114 homes changed hands during April compared with 7,487 last year. The average selling price of a home in Greater Toronto was up 0.3% year-over-year to $1.16 million.
New listings in the Toronto market increased 47.2% from a year ago, with 16,941 new properties listed for sale during April, up from 11,509 in the same period of 2023.
The real estate association attributed the increase in new listings to rising demand in anticipation of lower interest rates this summer as expectations grow that the Bank of Canada will begin cutting rates in June of this year.
Vancouver Sales Rise
Across the country in British Columbia, the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board reported that the number of homes sold in April rose 3.3% from a year ago, although sales were below the 10-year average for the month.
There were 2,831 homes sold in Vancouver in April compared with 2,741 recorded in the same month of 2023.
The number of homes listed for sale in Vancouver also rose sharply in April, climbing 42.1% year-over-year to 12,491, which is 16.7% above the 10-year seasonal average.
Homes listed for sale in Vancouver are now at their highest level since 2020 when rock bottom interest rates led to a hot housing market across Canada.
The average price of a home sold in Vancouver during April was $1.21 million, up 2.8% from a year ago and a 0.8% increase from March of this year.
The Vancouver real estate board also attributed the spike in new listings to expectations that interest rates charged on mortgages will be coming down later this year.
The average interest rate charged on a mortgage in Canada is currently above 6%, the highest level in about 25 years.
