Baystreet.ca - Home sales across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during June fell 16.4% from a year earlier.
The sales decline comes despite the Bank of Canada lowering interest rates in June, a move that makes home mortgages more affordable.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) said 6,213 homes were sold in Canada’s largest city during June, down from 7,429 a year ago.
The average selling price in Greater Toronto fell 1.6% year-over-year to $1.16 million.
At the same time, the number of homes listed for sale across the GTA rose 12.3% in June, with nearly 18,000 properties on the market.
The real estate board said its polling suggests that an interest rate cut of at least 100-basis points (a full percentage point) is needed to boost home sales in Toronto.
Inventory Rises In Vancouver
It was a similar situation across the country in Vancouver. The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board said the number of homes sold in June declined 19.1% year-over-year.
The sales decline was blamed on a rise in inventory levels, with the number of homes for sale on the Vancouver market now at its highest level since spring 2019.
There were 2,418 homes sold in June, which is 23% below the 10-year seasonal average and down from 2,988 sales a year earlier.
The sales decrease comes as the number of homes listed for sale in Vancouver rose 42% year-over-year to 14,182.
The real estate board said homebuyers remain hesitant while sellers are eager to list their properties.
With so many houses for sale in Vancouver currently, it has become a buyer’s market, said the real estate board.
The average price of a home sold in Metro (TSX:MRU) Vancouver ticked up 0.4% from a year ago to $1.2 million in June.