Those who somehow haven't given up the hope of owning a home in Toronto may be calmly waiting on the sidelines until further Bank of Canada rate cuts, but for realtors, developers and current owners trying to sell, things are looking pretty grave.

Sales figures across the region have been down double-digit percentages for months now, with buyers more confidently offering less than asking price in a market in which bidding wars and quick sales were once the norm.

Those quick sales also now appear to be a thing of the past, with properties spending far longer on the market amid very little movement — something that is just one of a slew of indicators of trouble.

Toronto is overrun with homes for sale that no one is buying because prices are still sky-high https://t.co/roZyJt8w1p

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 4, 2024

Per the latest report from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), listings are sitting on the market for 43 per cent longer than they were at this time last year, with houses and condos taking an average of 30 days total to sell last month — 50 per cent longer than last June.

The fact that the cumulative number of days a given address has been for sale is higher than the days a specific listing has been active indicates that sellers are having to terminate and re-list homes in their attempts to sell.

And with a whopping 67.4 per cent more active listings in June 2024 than in June 2023, a more attractive price is crucial to ensure a sale. And yet, amid all of these drastic figures, selling prices remain relatively unchanged, down only a marginal 1.6 per cent year-over-year.

Glut of homes flood the Toronto market but the problem is nobody is buying them https://t.co/0kv9TYheFZ

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 3, 2024

The lack of affordability will be helped somewhat by changes to interest rates and economic improvement in general, but some experts have cautioned that dwindling sales numbers will lead to less new housing supply.

Some developers are already offering incentives, putting complexes on hold, or even seeing projects go into receivership — all concerning to stakeholders, but perhaps not an issue for prospective buyers who are hoping that a shake-up could bring lower prices. 

Unfortunately, at this point, it doesn't look like it's going to, given that prices are still stubburn while we're already in the closest to a balanced market that the city has had for a while.