Toronto Market Report
2022 Year-in-Review
An overview of historical transaction data in the municipality of Toronto
In 2022, the Greater Toronto Area, like other real estate markets across the country, saw a significant decline in sales activity. Resale units sold were down 38% year-over-year and 21% when compared to the trailing 5-year average. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) compiles transaction data for each major market within the GTA, with the TRREB Market Stats dashboard providing historic sales data going back to 1996. While historical stats should never be the sole indicator of what’s to come, they are helpful to review and consider as part of the broader context. In this year-end update, we'll outline transaction highlights for each of the communities comprising the municipality of Toronto, as well as overall performance by property type.
GTA Regional Overview
Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the economic and entertainment hub of our country. It is one of our most livable cities, although high home prices continue to put it at a disadvantage to other world-class Canadian cities such as Montreal and Calgary. Nevertheless, with strong immigration levels into our country and a growing population, Toronto will continue to be a major destination.
Beyond the Toronto municipality, which is comprised of Toronto, Scarborough, and Etobicoke, TRREB covers the surrounding GTA regions of Orangeville, York, and Simcoe to the north, Halton and Peel to the west, and Durham to the east. In this report, we will focus on the core Toronto municipality, which is the largest region for overall sales activity in the GTA, representing close to 37% of all resales in 2022.
Toronto Municipality
Total Market Overview
Across all communities included in the municipality of Toronto, the average sale price observed in the final quarter of 2022 was just over $1 million, up 2.1% from the prior quarter and down 2.4% for the year. This compares favorably to the surrounding GTA, which ended the year down roughly 10%. This is a reversal from what occurred during the pandemic, when many people made the move out of the city for greater space and affordability offered by suburban markets in the surrounding GTA.
Despite Toronto’s relatively good performance over the past year compared to the surrounding GTA and the province as a whole, in the broader context, prices within Toronto proper have experienced less growth over the past 5 years than regions in the surrounding GTA like Pickering, Newmarket, and Brampton. This can be attributed to two things: (1) the relative affordability of these suburban markets surrounding Toronto, and (2) the pandemic’s impact on the need for more space at home. Compared to its trailing 5-year average for average sale price, homes in Toronto proper are up 9%, while the entire GTA is up 12%. To compare Toronto’s performance against other major markets in the province, check out our article on Top Markets in Ontario here.
Going back further than 5 years, Toronto’s exceptional price growth has been driven by its low inventory, or housing supply available for buyers. When your market has lots of demand, you need to have lots of people selling or lots of new homes being built. Toronto has neither of these when compared to the overall demand to live in or nearby this city. Add in the fact than many neighbourhoods in downtown Toronto have limited space for new development, such as Liberty Village, and it is evident that housing affordability will continue to be a big issue for the city. Over the trailing 5 years, Toronto has been a tight sellers’ market, with an average of just under two months of resale inventory.
Throughout 2022, multiple interest rate hikes have resulted in a temporary cooling of the market, with Toronto ending the year with almost 3 months of available inventory, up slightly from where it’s been since 2017. Homes are also taking longer to sell, with an average days on market of 23 days, up slightly from a year ago when resale properties were selling in 16 to 17 days. Over the last 5 years, Toronto has had an average of 18 days on market, so relatively speaking, this is a slightly more favourable market for buyers than what Torontonians have been used to.
Around 60% of properties in the Toronto municipality are condominiums, with the remainder being freehold properties such as detached and semi-detached houses. Housing mix varies widely depending on location, with over 90% of properties sold in the downtown core being condos. Toronto condos are about half the price of their freehold counterparts, with average sale prices to end the year of $750K and $1,477K respectively. As expected from this relative affordability, Toronto condos have seen prices grow at a faster pace than the freehold segment over the past 5 years.
To end the year, both property types are taking longer to sell than they were a year ago, with condos taking 5 days longer to sell than freeholds. The condo segment has also seen greater inventory levels available for buyers, ending the year with double the supply when compared to its trailing 5-year average. Freeholds, on the other hand, saw a decline in inventory levels during the final quarter of the year, bringing supply levels more or less in line with the trailing 5-year average. With severely limited space available for the development of new freehold properties in the city, low inventory levels for freeholds should continue to be the norm.
Community Overview
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is defined as the area south of BloorStreet, bounded by Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. The downtown core is further separated into its east and west districts by Yonge Street, the primary thoroughfare that runs north-south through the city.
Community Overview
Downtown West
Downtown West, defined by TRREB as the C01 community, is one of the most vibrant areas of the city. Downtown West is close to fully developed, with over 90% of resale activity in 2022 pertaining to condominiums. In recent years, and accelerating now, the area has undergone significant housing intensification efforts through the development of various high-rise condos, such as those in the mixed-use “Well” development near Spadina and Front. This will add some more supply to the market, but if demand grows as expected, low inventory levels should persist throughout the downtown core.
Similar to the city as a whole, condos in Downtown West are about half the price of their freehold counterparts, ending the year with an average sale price of just under $820K. Compared to a year prior, condos in Downtown West were down 2.7%, while freeholds were down 9.1%. Both property types ended the year with more inventory available for buyers than the trailing 5-year average and are taking slightly longer to sell (~23 days).
Community Overview
Downtown East
Downtown East, defined by TRREB as the C08 community, is one of the oldest and most historic parts of our country. In terms of land area and overall sales activity, it is about half the size of Downtown West, with a similar housing mix that is dominated by condos. In the final quarter of 2022, Downtown East reported an average sale price of $810K, down 2.7% on the year but up 4.2% when compared to the trailing 5-year average.
Inventory has steadily grown over the past year, with 3.6 months of inventory available as of year-end, roughly double the preceding 5-year average for Downtown East. Compared to Downtown West and the city as a whole, homes in Downtown East are taking 5 days longer to sell on average, and are up 9-10 days when compared to the area’s 5-year average.
Community Overview
Midtown Toronto
Midtown Toronto is the largest region in the Toronto municipality in terms of overall sales activity. It is also the most expensive, with an average price to end 2022 of $1,360K. Midtown Toronto is bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Steeles Avenue along the northern municipal boundary, and Etobicoke and Scarborough to the west and east. Collectively, resale activity in Midtown is about 60% condos, with a drastic difference in average price between the two property types. Condos in Midtown are similar to the downtown core, ending the year with an average sale price of $814K. Freeholds, on the other hand, are dramatically more expensive, finishing the year with an average price of $2.2 million. As expected from this relative affordability, Midtown condos have seen prices grow at a faster pace than the freehold segment over the past 5 years. More notably, condo prices in Midtown ended the year up slightly from where they were at the end of 2021. Compared to freeholds in Midtown, the GTA, and the province as a whole, which have experienced annual price declines ranging between 7% and 10%, condos in Midtown are still seeing relatively strong demand. As a whole, Midtown experienced the highest annual price growth amongst the major regions in Toronto, up 0.4% when compared to year-end 2021.
To end the year, both property types in Midtown are taking 5 days longer to sell than they were a year ago. Inventory has recovered well over the past year, with almost triple the supply for condos and more than double for freeholds. In the broader context, resale inventory in Midtown, particularly freeholds, is more or less in line with its trailing 5-year average. Alongside Etobicoke and Scarborough, Midtown Toronto saw an inventory decline during the final quarter of 2022, showing relative demand strength when compared to both the downtown core and most markets across the province.
Community Overview
Etobicoke and the West End
Etobicoke and the West End, defined by TRREB as communities W01 thru W10, forms the entire western portion of the Toronto municipality, with overall resale activity more or less in line with Midtown Toronto. Collectively, the Etobicoke housing mix is split equally between freeholds and condos, although condos will continue to grow in prominence.
To end the year, the average sale price in Etobicoke was just under one million dollars, down 2.5% on the year. Similar to the rest of Toronto, condos in Etobicoke outperformed the freehold segment over the past year, recording a slight year-over-year gain of 2.4%. Freeholds in Etobicoke ended the year at $1,280K, roughly twice the price of an Etobicoke condo and down 8.3% on the year.
Etobicoke inventory of both condos and freeholds fell in the final quarter of 2022, although they are still up when compared to the trailing 5-year average. Properties in Etobicoke are also taking slightly longer to sell, up 6 to 7 days from their trailing 5-year average.
Community Overview
Scarborough and the East End
Scarborough and the East End, defined by TRREB as communities E01 through E11, forms the entire eastern portion of the Toronto municipality, with overall resale activity slightly less than Midtown Toronto and Etobicoke. Starting along the lakeshore, the region is bounded to the west by the Don Valley Parkway, while Victoria Park Avenue forms the remainder of its western boundary up to Steeles Avenue.
East of Victoria Park Avenue and towards the Pickering townline, Scarborough features a greater share of suburban neighbourhoods comprised of detached and semi-detached homes. The area also has an abundance of green space, both along the lakeshore escarpment and throughout the city interior. Collectively, Scarborough features the greatest share of freehold properties in the city, with only 37% of resales in 2022 relating to condominiums.
Historically, and to this day, Scarborough is the most affordable region within Toronto, ending the year with average prices of $636K for condos and $1,168K for freeholds. Across all properties, the Scarborough average price was down 5.8% on the year, making it the worst performing region within the Toronto municipality. As experienced city-wide, price declines in Scarborough were concentrated in freeholds, down 11.5% over the past year compared to condos which ended the year up slightly at 0.8%. Across all regions and property types, condos in Scarborough have experienced the greatest price growth when compared to its trailing 5-year average, finishing the year up 15.6%. This can be attributed to the relative affordability of Scarborough condos, which, like those in Etobicoke and Midtown, should continue to grow in prominence due to the limited space for new freehold development.
Scarborough inventory for both freeholds and condos fell in the final quarter of the year, ending the year with less than 2 months of resale inventory. Compared to the entire municipality at year-end, Scarborough has the lowest supply of homes for sale, with freehold properties in line with their trailing 5-year average at just over 1 month of available supply. As expected from this low inventory, properties in Scarborough are currently selling faster than anywhere in the city, with Scarborough freeholds selling in just under 16 days, 9 days faster than Scarborough condos and 7 days faster than the municipal average to end the year.
Community Overview
Surrounding GTA
North of the Toronto municipal boundary at Steeles Avenue, York region consists of a variety of high-growth, expensive cities such as Markham, Richmond, Newmarket, and Aurora. Further north are the regions of Dufferin and Simcoe, which include the cities of Orangeville, Innisfil, and Bradford. York region ended the year with an average sale price of $1,280K, down 8.2% over the past year, while Simcoe and Dufferin experienced larger price declines at 18.5% and 14.8% respectively.
To the west of Etobicoke, regions covered by TRREB include Peel and Halton. Peel region includes the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, while Halton includes the cities of Oakville, Milton, and Burlington. To end the 2022 year, Peel region recorded an average sale price of $1,025K, down 8.1% from a year ago, while Halton’s average sale price of $1,191K was down 10.7%. Finally, east of the Pickering-Scarborough townline, TRREB covers the Durham region, which includes the cities of Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa, amongst others. Durham region ended the year with an average sale price of $889K, down 11.4% over the past year.
Summary
The Toronto Market report will be updated on a quarterly basis. Every market is different, but understanding available inventory levels alongside recent price and market trends can help prospective buyers and sellers make more informed decisions. A summary of all Toronto markets as of year-end 2022 is presented above and you can subscribe to quarterly updates of the Toronto Market Report by completing the contact form below.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As you contemplate the next steps in your real estate journey, there are a variety of helpful online resources you can leverage, such as realtor.ca, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and historical sales data and market insights from leading real estate websites like Zolo, Royal LePage, HouseSigma, and Wahi.
