Canadian home buyers have taken a step back from the real estate market in the last month as interest rates remain high. The cost of borrowing has made buying a home a harder prospect and as a result, many potential buyers are choosing to shelve their home buying plans for the time being. Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)  is no exception to this, with sales in the GTA falling by 12% from August to September.

While prices haven’t exactly declined in the GTA, sellers are having a tougher time due to the decline in interest driven by a lack of affordability. Many homes are selling for less than their listing price, while others are sitting on the market for long periods of time as those selling are less willing to budge. But for those being sold, how much less are they selling for than what they were listed?

To find out, Zoocasa analyzed the listing prices in major cities across the GTA, and compared those to how much homes are actually selling for in the region in September. We also analyzed the market conditions in each, to learn which are benefiting buyers or sellers. 

Homes are Selling Under the Asking Price Across the GTA

Homes are selling below what they’re being listed for in each of the cities analyzed. King, generally the most expensive area in the GTA, has an average listing price of $3,200,591, while homes are selling for $2,052,470 – a 35.87% difference. 

The city with the greatest difference in listing and selling price is Halton Hills. Homes in the area are selling for $1,083,709, 42.94% below the list price of $1,899,398. Caledon has the second greatest difference, with the average sale price at $1,363,853, 42.12% lower than the average listing price of $2,356,199.

The city with the smallest difference between listing and selling price is Orangeville. The average listing price is currently $908,292, while homes are selling for an average of $816,626, with a difference of just 10.09%. It’s the second most affordable city on our list, with the most affordable, Oshawa, having an average price of $756,906, 13.60% lower than the average list price of $876,004.

Sellers Struggling With Markets Heavily Favouring Buyers

Sellers are having a tough time at the moment and that’s reflected across the GTA. The sales-to-new-listings-ratio (SNLR) in almost all the cities we covered sits either in balanced (40-60%) or buyers’ (0-39%) territory. Currently, there are 15 markets that benefit buyers, while 16 of them are in a balanced state. The only city where market conditions favour sellers is Scugog, where the SNLR is 64%. Despite this, there is still an 18.58% difference between the listing and sale price in the city, with homes selling for an average of $1,140,500 compared to the list price of $1,400,765. 

Zoocasa (Daniel Crook, October 11,2023)