The real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area is showing signs of life again, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. The board reported that the region has now recorded its third straight month of higher home sales compared with the same period a year earlier, a run that suggests the long-sluggish market may be finding firmer footing.
The headline figure came in the sales volume. More than 6,500 homes changed hands across the Greater Toronto Area last month, a total that was up just over six per cent compared with May of the previous year. The year-over-year gain points to renewed activity among buyers after an extended stretch of weaker demand in the region.
Momentum was also visible from one month to the next. On a seasonally adjusted basis, which smooths out the usual swings between months, sales rose about ten per cent from April. That month-over-month jump indicates the improvement is not simply a seasonal quirk but part of a broader pickup in transactions across the market.
Prices, however, moved in the opposite direction. The board said the average selling price in the Greater Toronto Area was down just over four and a half per cent year over year, falling to just under 1,070,000 dollars. The easing in prices, set against rising sales, points to a market where more buyers are returning even as costs come off their earlier highs.
Industry observers framed the latest numbers as a sign of stabilization rather than a sudden boom. They noted that while figures are still moving quite a bit both month over month and year over year, the overall picture is starting to look more normalized, settling into a place that offers more stability than the market has seen in some time.
For a market that has been closely watched through a period of high borrowing costs and uncertain demand, the combination of stronger sales and softer prices is being read as a welcome shift. As one analysis put it, the move toward steadier conditions has been a long time coming for the Greater Toronto Area's housing market.