Toronto’s detached real estate market is performing better than last year, but that doesn’t say much. Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) numbers show detached sales improved in October. The improvement isn’t as exciting when you realize sales are still below the 10 year trend. As for prices? They are basically retracing last year’s movements, give or take a couple points.

Greater Toronto Detached Prices Fall Less Than A Point

The price of a detached home fell across Greater Toronto, but increased in the city. TREB reported the price of a typical detached home reach $914,500 in October, down 0.73% from last year. In the City of Toronto it reached $1,109,300, up 1.94% from last year. The suburbs are falling, while growth in the city is still below inflation.

Toronto Detached Benchmark Price

The price of a typical detached home across the Toronto Real Estate Board, in Canadian dollars.

Month	TREB	City of Toronto
Jan 2014	594,600	730,000
Feb 2014	601,300	737,800
Mar 2014	609,800	750,000
Apr 2014	617,300	759,500
May 2014	622,800	768,600
Jun 2014	628,800	773,800
Jul 2014	631,400	774,700
Aug 2014	631,000	770,800
Sep 2014	632,100	769,100
Oct 2014	637,300	774,300
Nov 2014	640,300	782,100
Dec 2014	642,900	785,100
Jan 2015	645,200	787,300
Feb 2015	654,900	794,300
Mar 2015	666,800	808,100
Apr 2015	678,300	823,300
May 2015	687,600	834,200
Jun 2015	695,400	838,900
Jul 2015	700,600	843,300
Aug 2015	704,400	845,000
Sep 2015	708,100	852,800
Oct 2015	712,200	855,800
Nov 2015	714,800	859,700
Dec 2015	717,800	864,100
Jan 2016	728,900	876,300
Feb 2016	739,000	878,000
Mar 2016	754,200	897,600
Apr 2016	776,900	924,000
May 2016	808,600	961,300
Jun 2016	826,400	982,100
Jul 2016	836,900	988,600
Aug 2016	845,000	991,200
Sep 2016	855,500	999,900
Oct 2016	872,600	1,020,300
Nov 2016	878,900	1,031,500
Dec 2016	885,600	1,038,900
Jan 2017	907,100	1,076,300
Feb 2017	936,600	1,105,700
Mar 2017	992,700	1,171,900
Apr 2017	1,042,100	1,226,300
May 2017	1,049,500	1,228,500
Jun 2017	1,027,200	1,205,400
Jul 2017	963,900	1,146,100
Aug 2017	936,100	1,100,100
Sep 2017	930,500	1,093,900
Oct 2017	921,200	1,088,200
Nov 2017	915,600	1,088,200
Dec 2017	909,300	1,085,100
Jan 2018	907,100	1,080,800
Feb 2018	915,300	1,090,000
Mar 2018	924,900	1,100,500
Apr 2018	927,800	1,109,700
May 2018	934,100	1,123,800
Jun 2018	931,600	1,119,400
Jul 2018	923,800	1,112,800
Aug 2018	914,900	1,100,500
Sep 2018	914,200	1,105,300
Oct 2018	914,500	1,109,300

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

Both in the city and in the suburbs, price growth improved. Across TREB, the 0.73% decline is the smallest its been since January 2018. The City of Toronto printed its third positive gain, making it the highest growth we’ve seen since 2017. Worth mentioning that prices are making a textbook retrace of the previous price arc. The City of Toronto is slightly above, but not enough to say we’re in the clear.

Toronto Detached Benchmark Percent Change

The 12 month percent change of a typical detached home across the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Month	TREB	City of Toronto
Jan 2015	8.51	7.85
Feb 2015	8.91	7.66
Mar 2015	9.35	7.75
Apr 2015	9.88	8.4
May 2015	10.4	8.53
Jun 2015	10.59	8.41
Jul 2015	10.96	8.86
Aug 2015	11.63	9.63
Sep 2015	12.02	10.88
Oct 2015	11.75	10.53
Nov 2015	11.64	9.92
Dec 2015	11.65	10.06
Jan 2016	12.97	11.3
Feb 2016	12.84	10.54
Mar 2016	13.11	11.08
Apr 2016	14.54	12.23
May 2016	17.6	15.24
Jun 2016	18.84	17.07
Jul 2016	19.45	17.23
Aug 2016	19.96	17.3
Sep 2016	20.82	17.25
Oct 2016	22.52	19.22
Nov 2016	22.96	19.98
Dec 2016	23.38	20.23
Jan 2017	24.45	22.82
Feb 2017	26.74	25.93
Mar 2017	31.62	30.56
Apr 2017	34.14	32.72
May 2017	29.79	27.8
Jun 2017	24.3	22.74
Jul 2017	15.18	15.93
Aug 2017	10.78	10.99
Sep 2017	8.77	9.4
Oct 2017	5.57	6.65
Nov 2017	4.18	5.5
Dec 2017	2.68	4.45
Jan 2018	0	0.42
Feb 2018	-2.27	-1.42
Mar 2018	-6.83	-6.09
Apr 2018	-10.97	-9.51
May 2018	-11	-8.52
Jun 2018	-9.31	-7.13
Jul 2018	-4.16	-2.91
Aug 2018	-2.26	0.04
Sep 2018	-1.75	1.04
Oct 2018	-0.73	1.94

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

The median sale price of a detached home improved, due to an increase in luxury. TREB reported a median sale price of $850,000 in October, up 1.19% from last year. The City of Toronto reported a median sale price of $1,050,000, up 5% from last year. The increase is largely due to an increase in homes over $2 million, which is up 8% compared to the same month last year. Remember, medians aren’t helpful for determining how much prices will reach. Instead, use them as an indicator of dollar flow.

Toronto Detached Average Sale Price

The average sale price of a detached house in the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Month	TREB	416	905
Oct 2015	823,177	1,071,394	734,745
Nov 2015	829,241	1,018,621	762,326
Dec 2015	825,470	1,039,638	747,229
Jan 2016	848,999	1,061,789	783,565
Feb 2016	909,761	1,211,459	816,705
Mar 2016	910,375	1,174,358	837,217
Apr 2016	968,437	1,257,958	881,413
May 2016	986,691	1,285,693	891,870
Jun 2016	979,445	1,259,486	892,747
Jul 2016	952,983	1,202,753	888,565
Aug 2016	964,002	1,206,637	905,610
Sep 2016	1,013,788	1,294,482	928,414
Oct 2016	1,034,077	1,303,339	948,191
Nov 2016	1,058,273	1,345,962	957,517
Dec 2016	1,016,145	1,286,605	934,055
Jan 2017	1,068,670	1,336,640	999,102
Feb 2017	1,205,815	1,573,622	1,106,201
Mar 2017	1,214,422	1,561,780	1,124,088
Apr 2017	1,205,262	1,578,542	1,098,827
May 2017	1,141,041	1,503,868	1,025,893
Jun 2017	1,055,863	1,386,524	948,099
Jul 2017	1,000,336	1,304,288	910,348
Aug 2017	968,494	1,191,052	906,592
Sep 2017	1,015,067	1,355,234	912,921
Oct 2017	1,008,207	1,287,765	910,488
Nov 2017	996,527	1,276,184	898,605
Dec 2017	989,870	1,250,235	910,216
Jan 2018	970,823	1,283,981	879,048
Feb 2018	1,000,736	1,282,240	911,065
Mar 2018	1,005,779	1,293,903	921,515
Apr 2018	1,030,103	1,354,719	929,092
May 2018	1,045,553	1,426,094	929,401
Jun 2018	1,033,574	1,354,429	928,560
Jul 2018	1,004,647	1,350,700	907,347
Aug 2018	977,187	1,244,275	907,780
Sep 2018	1,008,361	1,342,363	905,722
Oct 2018	1,019,416	1,311,265	914,179

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

Greater Toronto Average Detached Sale Price Rises By 1%

The average sale price of a detached home saw mild improvement. TREB reported an average sale of $1,019,416 in October, up 1% from last year. The City of Toronto saw an average of $1,311,265, up 1.4% from last year. Both numbers did improve, but once again saw improvements below target inflation.

Toronto Detached Average Sale Price Change

The 12 month percent change of average sale price across across TREB.

Month	12 Month Change
Jan 2016	18.55
Feb 2016	16.31
Mar 2016	15.62
Apr 2016	18.94
May 2016	18.91
Jun 2016	19.94
Jul 2016	21
Aug 2016	21.7
Sep 2016	23.65
Oct 2016	25.62
Nov 2016	27.62
Dec 2016	23.1
Jan 2017	25.87
Feb 2017	32.54
Mar 2017	33.4
Apr 2017	24.45
May 2017	15.64
Jun 2017	7.8
Jul 2017	4.97
Aug 2017	0.47
Sep 2017	0.13
Oct 2017	-2.5
Nov 2017	-5.8
Dec 2017	-2.59
Jan 2018	-9.1
Feb 2018	-17.2
Mar 2018	-17.1
Apr 2018	-14.4
May 2018	-8.2
Jun 2018	-1.9
Jul 2018	0.5
Aug 2018	1.2
Sep 2018	-0.6
Oct 2018	1

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

Greater Toronto Detached Real Estate Sales Rise Over 7%

Toronto is seeing detached sales improve from last year. TREB reported 3,328 detached sales in October, up 7.1% from last year. The City of Toronto represented 882 of those sales, up 10.1% from last year. Those are huge improvements, but it’s worth remembering last year’s sales were historic lows. Detached sales are still 25% below the 2016 number, and 8.25% below the 10 year average. Sales are improving, but they’re still in line with major policy change or recession numbers.

Toronto Detached Sales Vs. New Listings

The total number of detached sales, compared to the number of new detached listings per month.

Month	Sales	New Listings
Oct 2015	4,100	6,299
Nov 2015	3,451	4,153
Dec 2015	2,134	1,980
Jan 2016	2,109	3,822
Feb 2016	3,627	5,165
Mar 2016	4,954	7,029
Apr 2016	6,062	7,805
May 2016	6,500	8,554
Jun 2016	6,307	8,432
Jul 2016	4,653	6,347
Aug 2016	4,449	5,803
Sep 2016	4,708	7,659
Oct 2016	4,499	6,767
Nov 2016	3,890	5,109
Dec 2016	2,259	1,736
Jan 2017	2,261	3,244
Feb 2017	3,721	4,825
Mar 2017	5,887	9,012
Apr 2017	5,715	11,863
May 2017	4,757	14,036
Jun 2017	3,450	10,263
Jul 2017	2,434	6,989
Aug 2017	2,578	5,697
Sep 2017	2,780	9,009
Oct 2017	3,135	7,849
Nov 2017	3,131	7,420
Dec 2017	1,938	3,046
Jan 2018	1,659	4,375
Feb 2018	2,169	5,556
Mar 2018	3,120	8,011
Apr 2018	3,451	8,578
May 2018	3,344	10,208
Jun 2018	3,589	8,417
Jul 2018	3,062	7,088
Aug 2018	3,001	6,167
Sep 2018	2,829	8,727
Oct 2018	3,328	7,606

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

Greater Toronto Detached Inventory Is Up Over 4%

The number of new listings for detached homes is falling in the burbs, but higher in the city. TREB reported 7,606 new listings in October, down 3% from last year. The City of Toronto represented 1,857 of those new listings, up 5.63% from last year. Even though listings across TREB fell, both regions saw higher inventory.

The total number of active listings increased across Greater Toronto. TREB reported 11,473 active detached listings in October, up 4.26% from last year. The City of Toronto represented 2,293 of those listings, up 4.51% from last year. The increase in inventory is almost double what the market saw in 2016.

Toronto Active Detached Listings

The total number of detached listings available.

Month	Active Listings
Sep 2015	8,042
Oct 2015	7,349
Nov 2015	5,777
Dec 2015	3,644
Jan 2016	3,912
Feb 2016	4,363
Mar 2016	4,970
Apr 2016	5,089
May 2016	5,303
Jun 2016	5,144
Jul 2016	4,762
Aug 2016	4,237
Sep 2016	5,279
Oct 2016	5,211
Nov 2016	4,296
Dec 2016	2,224
Jan 2017	2,306
Feb 2017	2,624
Mar 2017	4,347
Apr 2017	7,458
May 2017	10,654
Jun 2017	11,245
Jul 2017	10,497
Aug 2017	9,215
Sep 2017	11,048
Oct 2017	11,004
Nov 2017	10,600
Dec 2017	7,508
Jan 2018	6,819
Feb 2018	7,852
Mar 2018	9,651
Apr 2018	10,956
May 2018	12,505
Jun 2018	12,489
Jul 2018	11,662
Aug 2018	10,563
Sep 2018	12,042
Oct 2018	11,473

Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.

Toronto’s detached market has improved from last year, but not enough to declare a new uptrend. Sales are higher than last year, but they’re well below the 10 year average. As for prices, they’re either just over or under a complete retrace from last year, which isn’t all that encouraging.