Toronto's real estate market has been tanking for months now, worrying various stakeholders who now wonder if the city is on its way to a full-on housing crash.

High interest rates and an escalating overall cost of living have pushed people further away from the notion of owning a home in the region than ever, and the fact that prices haven't taken much of a hit despite a huge slide in sales numbers hasn't helped anything, either.

The latest figures from the end of the year show just how bad the city's once-hot real estate scene has fallen, with the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) writing in a new report that "while the overall demand for housing remained buoyed by record immigration in 2023, more of this demand was pointed at the rental market."

Toronto home sales are in a nosedive and experts are very worried https://t.co/peO9tAtYgi #Toronto #RealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) September 3, 2023

"The number of GTA home sales in 2023 came in at less than 70,000 due to affordability issues brought about by high mortgage rates," the board's analysis continues, also blaming "unrealistic" federal mortgage qualification standards for the slump.

The sector saw 12.1 per cent fewer homes switching hands last year than in 2022 and almost a whopping 50 per cent fewer than in 2021.

There was also a 5.4 per cent decrease in prices and a significant decline in new listings, the latter of which TRREB notes is "problematic" while our population is growing at such record rates.

"People need to have comfort in knowing that they can plan their lives and future with the certainty that they will have the stability of an affordable place to live," the group's CEO writes. "Record immigration into the GTA in the coming years will require a corresponding increase in the number of homes available to rent or purchase."

Not only did home sales slow concerningly year-over-year, but also compared to years past, with 2023 marking the most dismal sales data on record since 2000.

Even fewer people purchased condos and houses across the Toronto area last year than in the 2008 financial crisis — in that year, 74,500 homes were sold, compared to just 65,982 in 2023.

Here's another major sign Toronto's real estate market is in big trouble right now😬 https://t.co/cBbiPUIYXK #Toronto #TorontoRealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 21, 2023

Other trends scary for those in the industry include the fact that buyers are underbidding homes more than they have in the last decade, leading the more desperate sellers to let go of their homes for less than they'd hoped.

Houses are also sitting on the market far longer, while more and more listings are being terminated or even being put to power of sale when owners default on payments.

When it comes to condos specifically, dozens of projects have been put on hold due to all of the stagnation and uncertainty, all while Canada has seen record immigration and a demand shock that may prove unsustainable.