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Buyers were hesitant in October as the spectre of rate hikes and world events loomed in the background. Total number of sales in the GTA were lower than last year but selling prices remained above October 2022 levels. 

“Record population growth and a relatively resilient GTA economy have kept the overall demand for housing strong,” says TRREB (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board) President Paul Baron. “However, more of that demand has been pointed at the rental market, as high borrowing costs and uncertainty on the direction of interest rates has seen many would-be home buyers remain on the sidelines in the short term.”

According to TREBB, there were 4,646 home sales through the MLS system in October 2023. That’s down 5.8% from a year ago. New listings were up 38 per cent to 14,397, compared to last October's 10,433 listings. However, the gains were less dramatic compared to the 10-year average.

The average detached home price is $1,450,112, up 6 percent compared to last October and the average semi-detached is $1,102,721 up 2 per cent.

“Competition between buyers remained strong enough to keep the average selling price above last year’s level in October and above the cyclical lows experienced in the first quarter of this year,” says Jason Mercer, TRREB’s chief market analyst. “However, home prices remain well below their record peak reached at the beginning of 2022, so lower home prices have mitigated the impact of higher borrowing costs to a certain degree.”

Though the Bank of Canada decided to hold interest rates at five per cent in its most recent announcement last month, rates are still higher than the historic lows seen during the pandemic, making it harder for buyers to qualify for mortgages.

TRREB CEO John DiMichele added it’s “disappointing” that uninsured mortgage holders coming up for renewal are “still forced to unrealistically qualify at rates approaching eight per cent,” under the stress test, if they want to shop around for a more competitive rate.

He believes the rule should be eliminated for people renewing their mortgages with a different institution.

Over the next three years, mortgages worth more than $900 billion are coming up for renewal, according to a new report from RBC, with some payments rising by half for some borrowers.