Spooky season has even Toronto's struggling real estate market coming back from the dead, with sales on an upward swing for the first time in many months and buyers bidding up selling prices in more neighbourhoods.

Based on the stats from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB)'s newest report, last month marked both a month-over-month and year-over-year spike in the number of homes changing hands after a lengthy lull of such little activity that stakeholders were seriously concerned.

And, another firm has just released new figures on bidding wars, which are also heating back up in parts of the GTA, flipping the switch on what had become a trend of prospective homeowners underbidding on properties.

Buyers are now offering way less than asking price on homes in these parts of the GTA. https://t.co/bI7TIFNs8D pic.twitter.com/2kJNsLtZm5

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 7, 2024

Wahi once again surveyed the market and ascertained which districts in and around Toronto are seeing buyers offer less, at, or more than asking price.

While only 13 per cent of the region's communities are now in "overbidding" territory, this marks a four per cent increase from the month prior. A larger 28 per cent of homes across the region regardless of location went for more than their listed price.

On the flip side, the proportion areas considered to be in "underbidding" territory has dropped slightly from a staggering 89 per cent in August to 86 per cent in September, and 69 per cent of homes regardless of neighbourhood went for under that mark (down one per cent from August).

Though these are very minor changes in either direction, they are again signalling a reverse of the trend we saw over the summer. Wahi adds that the fall market is  generally when things pick up, and that we are "still seeing transaction levels and bidding activity well below last year's level for this time of year."

The company says that in September 2023, 24 per cent of GTA locales were in overbidding territory, with an additional three per cent selling at-asking, a far cry form the 13 per cent and one per cent, respectively, last month.

The pockets that were most overbid were St. Clair West in Toronto, by an average of $103,065; Raymerville in Markham, by an average of $100,000; the Danforth in Toronto, by an avreage of $90,550; Wexford in Scarborough, by an average of $81,000; and the Junction in Toronto, by an average of $78,500.

Based on this data, these could be regarded as places where the market is heating up and properties are becoming ever-so-slightly more in demand.

As far as the most underbid neighbourhoods, per Wahi's numbers, we have Toronto's Forest Hill by an average of $199,000; North York's York Mills, by an average of $162,000; Oakville's Old Oakville, by an average of $145,000; Toronto's Lawrence Park, by an average of $113,000; and Mississauga's Port Credit, by an average of $106,300.

Though buyers looking in these corners of the GTA may get a better deal as far as being able to snag a place below it's listing price, these are all notoriously expensive areas with far higher prices than those on the overbidding list.

hehehe....good one....

— Toolmaker (@TardyJim66826) July 11, 2024

Though realtors may argue the rebound they were hoping for is on the way with lower interest rates, it's hard to know based on just one month of this upward trajectory.