Toronto home prices have been falling for the past year, and the home price index has been below $1-million since April, 2025.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Toronto home sales rose in March, marking the first increase in activity since last fall, as buyers took advantage of a drop in prices.
The region saw 4,546 home purchases last month, which was 1.4 per cent higher than February, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board or TRREB.
The last time monthly sales rose in the country’s largest real estate market was from August to September of 2025, when buyers benefited from cheaper mortgage rates.
However, activity is still weak compared with previous years. Last month’s sales were 52 per cent below the 10-year average for March.
Economic uncertainty from the U.S. trade war and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran has been taking its toll on prospective buyers.
“Many would-be home buyers remain on the sidelines waiting for more certainty on the trade front and on the impact of geopolitical tensions abroad,” Jason Mercer, the board’s chief information officer, said in an e-mail.
Ontario moves to allow building homes on smaller lots
Mr. Mercer said if households become more confident with their “economic situation,” more would “take advantage of improved affordability.”
Toronto home prices have been falling for the past year, and the home price index – the industry’s preferred measure of sale prices – has been below $1-million since April, 2025.
Last month, the home price index was $928,000. That was down 0.6 per cent from February and 7 per cent lower than March of last year.
Every type of property has lost value in the city of Toronto and its surrounding suburbs.
Condos across the greater Toronto region have lost the most value with the home price index down 9.6 per cent year-over-year.
In York Region, north of the city of Toronto, the home price index for condos is down 13.5 per cent, and in Durham, to the east of the city, the index has declined 11.2 per cent.
In contrast, detached houses have not lost as much value. Over the past year, the index for such houses was down 7 per cent across the Toronto region.
More homeowners put their properties up for sale last month. New listings climbed 1.2 per cent from February to March after falling 11.5 per cent in the previous month. TRREB said that sales were up by a slightly greater monthly rate than new listings.
It is too early to say whether this is the beginning of a rebound in the Toronto real estate market. Mortgage rates are on the rise again as the Middle East conflict drives up the cost of funding for fixed-rate loans.