Greater Toronto Area's (GTA) resale housing market tightened in July as new listings fell sharply, outpacing a modest decline in sales and increasing buyer competition, which could lead to home price stabilization in the second half of the year, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) on Thursday.
Market conditions became more competitive for buyers as new listings fell 17.8% year over year to 14,484 in July, while home sales declined just 0.9% to 5,995, lifting sales as a share of available listings, wrote TRREB in a note.
"If current trends continue, home prices could start to level off compared to last year," said TRREB president Daniel Steinfeld in the note. "Many would-be homebuyers are waiting for confidence in the market and broader economy to improve before making a purchase."
On a seasonally adjusted basis, home sales rose from June while new listings fell, signaling further tightening in market conditions over the summer, added TRREB.
Despite tighter supply-demand conditions, prices remained below year-ago levels, it said. The MLS HPI Composite benchmark fell 4.6% year over year in July, while the average selling price declined 4.5% to C$1,003,956.
Month over month, the seasonally adjusted MLS HPI Composite edged higher in July, while the average selling price dipped slightly.