In the City of Toronto, new listings for condos dropped about 18.8 per cent in March from the same month last year.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
As more sellers retreated from the Toronto condo market this spring in the face of slow sales and a slide in prices, the shrinking supply is motivating some vacillating buyers to commit.
Christopher Bibby, broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty, says sellers who do succeed are the ones who grasp that buyers are disciplined and laser-focused on price.
“Yes, we know prices are down. Boom – we’ve done another adjustment. We’re staying with the trends,” Mr. Bibby says. “It’s almost like we’re cracking a code in real time.”
At mid-April, Mr. Bibby had 16 properties for sale, which is down markedly from the 36 listings he was stick handling in the final weeks of 2025.
“It’s almost tame – a lot slower than what I’m used to,” Mr. Bibby says of the rollout of new condo listings.
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In the City of Toronto, new listings for condos dropped about 18.8 per cent in March from the same month last year while active listings fell 12.3 per cent in the same period.
Condo sales in the core 416 area code edged up 2.6 per cent last month compared with the same month last year, while average days on market lengthened to 37 from 32.
Mr. Bibby says swelling supply has taken momentum out of the market in springs past – especially when potential buyers see that sales and prices are down from a year earlier.
“Inventory ballooned. We were getting no offers – good luck getting showings.”
By contrast, the tighter supply and recent uptick in sales this spring has led some watchful buyers to jump into the mix when a rival puts an offer on the table.
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Mr. Bibby points to a two-level penthouse in a boutique building near Queen Street West and Beverley Street which drew two bids after sitting for more than six months on the market.
Penthouse 302 at 25 Soho St. was listed in late August with an asking price of $1.325-million. After four reductions, the asking price reached $1,149,900 and the successful bidder paid $1.11-million for the 1,100-square-foot unit.
“People are not making immediate offers – they are circling,” Mr. Bibby says.
He adds that the average “days on market” reported by Toronto Regional Real Estate Board can be misleading because the data show successful sales. The reality is that properties languish for a much longer time, and the numbers don’t reflect the cancelled listings.
Mr. Bibby sold a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at 61 St. Clair Ave. W. in March for $1.6-million after it was listed with an asking price of $1.625-million.
Unit 605, with 1,732 square feet of living space, was listed for about one month in the complex known as Granite Place.
“That building has been on a bit of a run,” Mr. Bibby says of the tower popular with homeowners downsizing from large houses in the surrounding streets.
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Elli Davis, real estate agent with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, believes large condos in established buildings are moving quite briskly in April owing to some pent-up demand from baby boomers.
Ms. Davis has noticed a retraction in listings as some owners decide to put their property up for rent instead.
Some people who plan to downsize from a large detached house are delaying their plans while they wait for stronger prices, she says, but many are willing to move ahead.
“What is more important, your life decision or your pocketbook?” is the question she asks the people on hold. “You have to look at your life.”
Ms. Davis recently sold a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo unit at Granite Place for full price soon after it landed on the market with an asking price of $2.25-million.
The unit in original condition had a south view of the city skyline, she says, adding that the buyer had recently missed out on a similar unit which drew four offers.
Ms. Davis has worked with homeowners who have lived in the same property for as long as 75 years. In many cases they are reluctant to move, but they prefer to make a decision before they run into problems with their health or mobility.
She recently listed a four-bedroom bungalow near Lawrence Avenue East and Bayview Avenue with an asking price of $4.5-million.
Elli Davis recently listed this home at 16 Royal Oak Dr. for $4.5-million.Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
The home at 16 Royal Oak Dr., which has been in the family of the original owner since the 1970s, still has mid-century design and shag carpeting, Ms. Davis says.
A new owner might renovate, she says, but the 100-by-133-foot lot may also appeal to a buyer who wants to build new.
In the city’s west end, Luke Dalinda, real estate agent with Royal LePage Real Estate Services, sold a two-bedroom condo four days after it arrived on the market with an asking price of $4.18-million.
Unit 1002 at 30 Old Mill Rd., with approximately 2,381 square feet of living space, also has a 1,400-square-foot terrace with views over the Humber River and surrounding parkland.
The buyer paid $3.8-million, Mr. Dalinda says.
It’s hard to find a silver lining in the GTA real estate market
Across the wider GTA, condo sales rose by 3.6 per cent in March from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, estimates Daren King, senior economist at National Bank of Canada.
That sedate performance followed a volatile start to the year when sales plunged 31.5 per cent in January from December, then posted a 12.2-per-cent jump in February.
Meanwhile, new listings crept up on a seasonally adjusted 1.9 per cent in March from February while active listings slipped by 0.7 per cent.
Market balance between supply and demand tightened in March in the condo segment but remained among the softest results on record, Mr. King says.
Across the broader market, sellers of condos and single-family homes appear to be discouraged by the lack of momentum in the GTA, he adds.
Mr. King says headwinds in the Canadian housing market intensified in March as national sales hummed along at a level 17.3 per cent below their 10-year average.
The market is now struggling against geopolitical uncertainty in addition to such forces as population decline, the weak performance of the labour market since the start of the year and a cloudy outlook surrounding Canada-United States trade.
The conflict in the Middle East has had spillover effects in the Canadian real estate market, he notes, with mortgage rates rising along with bond yields in March as investors anticipated a rise in inflation.
Looking ahead, Mr. King says home sales across the country could pick up later this year if Canada and the United States reach a trade deal.