Key facts
- Seasonally adjusted GTA sales fell 7.9% year-over-year in October, while new listings dropped 11.9%.
- The board's home price index was down 4.3% from a year earlier in October.
- The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark rate to 2.50% in the week before November 4, citing energy costs.
- Board chief information officer Jason Mercer said lower selling prices offset higher borrowing costs for buyers.
Greater Toronto Area home sales rose 1.2% in October from September to 5,274 seasonally adjusted units, the first increase in three months, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said on November 4. The board attributed the gain to lower selling prices offsetting higher borrowing costs.
The board's home price index rose 0.1% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis to C$928,800, equivalent to $663,523.36 at the exchange rate cited in the report. On a year-over-year basis, sales fell 7.9%, new listings declined 11.9% and the price index was down 4.3%.
"GTA homebuyers continued to benefit from substantial negotiating power on price over the past year," the board's chief information officer, Jason Mercer, said in a statement. He said that while borrowing costs have increased on the back of higher inflation, the impact on monthly mortgage payments has been mitigated by lower selling prices.
The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.50% in the week before the report, its first hike in three years, to prevent energy costs from driving broader inflation. The Greater Toronto Area comprises Canada's most populous city and four surrounding regional municipalities.