TORONTO
Greater Toronto Area home sales fell 7.9 percent in October compared with a year ago as economic uncertainty kept many potential buyers on the sidelines.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said 5,603 homes changed hands last month, though sales rose 1.2 percent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The average selling price was $1,024,108, down 2.7 percent year over year, while the composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 4.3 percent.
“You essentially have both buyers and sellers sitting on the sidelines right now, waiting to see how things shake out with the economy, inflation and borrowing costs,” TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer told CP24 Breakfast.
New listings dropped 11.9 percent from last year to 14,173, while active listings fell 10 percent from October 2025, leaving total inventory across the GTA at 25,098 homes for sale.
“GTA homebuyers continued to benefit from substantial negotiating power on price over the past year,” said Mercer.
“While borrowing costs have increased on the back of higher inflation, the impact on monthly mortgage payments has been mitigated by lower selling prices, helping keep affordability in check.”
The report comes as Canadians contend with rising borrowing costs following the Bank of Canada’s decision to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent, its first increase since July 2023.
The central bank is attempting to contain inflation, which currently sits at 3.1 percent.
Within the City of Toronto, TRREB said there were 2,184 sales last month, down 6.3 percent from October 2025. Across the rest of the GTA, home sales decreased 8.9 percent to 3,419.
All housing types saw lower sales year over year, led by an 11 percent decline in townhouse sales, followed by a 10.4 percent decrease in condo sales.
There were 8.1 percent fewer semi-detached houses sold last month compared with a year ago, while the detached market saw a 4.4 percent drop.
Mercer cautioned against interpreting the latest figures as a sign that housing affordability has returned to pre-pandemic levels, noting that average selling prices remain considerably lower than the highs recorded during the pandemic-era housing boom.
“We’re still off quite a bit from where we were coming out of the pandemic, and I think that has helped a lot of households mitigate the impact of higher borrowing costs,” he said.
Looking ahead, Mercer expects November and December to bring the usual seasonal slowdown in real estate activity, describing them as the usual “slower months of the year.”
TRREB president Daniel Steinfeld said in a news release that external factors could help restore confidence.
“If a Canada-U.S. trade deal is reached, GTA residents could gain a clearer picture of the economic outlook,” Steinfeld said.
“Combined with a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East, this could help ease concerns about inflation and economic uncertainty, strengthen consumer confidence and renew interest in home ownership as we move into 2027.”
e2gold.ca reported this week that a newly elected Democratic Congress is unlikely to curb former president Donald Trump’s trade war against Canada, with analysts saying his tariff powers are on firm legal ground.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by The Globe and Mail, CP24, CityNews and Yahoo News. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.