TORONTO — Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area rose on a year-over-year basis in March for the first time in six months, while average selling prices moved lower again.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said 5,039 homes changed hands in March, up 1.7 per cent from the same month last year, marking the first increase since last September.
Sales also increased 1.4 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis from February.
TRREB president Daniel Steinfeld said it’s an “encouraging” sign to see activity start to grow, suggesting more households are seeking to take advantage of improved affordability.
“Positive news on trade and geopolitical issues would help improve consumer confidence and home sales in the months ahead,” Steinfeld said in a news release.
Still, demand is relatively subdued as many potential buyers remain cautious, said Vy Ngo, a sales representative with Big City Realty Inc.
She said with the Iran war ongoing and trade uncertainty still lingering, many aren’t ready to move off the sidelines.
“It’s still quiet overall,” said Ngo.
“Obviously, the first two months, January, February, it was really, really slow. I think with the weather, it didn’t help. In March, I did notice more buyers started coming out, but we’re still not over the hump.”
The average selling price was down 6.7 per cent from March 2025 to $1,017,796, and the composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 7.4 per cent year-over-year.
Selling prices remained relatively flat on a month-over-month seasonally adjusted basis.
As the spring housing market unfolds, TD Economics has drastically lowered its national forecast for sales and prices in 2026, saying it no longer expects either to rise this year.
A subdued economy, heightened uncertainty and ongoing cost of living pressures are weighing on the market, its recent report said, as the bank’s economists now expect sales to fall 1.8 per cent year-over-year on average and home prices to move 0.3 per cent lower nationally.
Back in December, TD had forecasted a 9.3 per cent year-over-year gain in home sales for 2026 as well as a 4.1 per cent increase in average home prices.
Ngo said she believes activity could still cool even further this year if the price of gas and other basic goods continue to rise due to the war in the Middle East.
“I think 2026 will be worse than 2025, unless there’s some major good news,” she said.
“I just know we’re not at the bottom of the market, so (buyers are) more cautious. I don’t know how long it’ll take. No one has a crystal ball.”
For now, buyers are benefiting from “substantial negotiating power” on price, said TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer.
“This explains why benchmark and average selling prices were down year-over-year,” he said.
“However, if market conditions continue to tighten, as they did in March, selling prices could start levelling off as we move through the remainder of 2026.”
There were 14,442 new listings on the market in March, down 16.7 per cent from last year.
Inventory decreased eight per cent as there were 21,596 total active listings throughout the GTA
There were 1,913 sales last month in the City of Toronto, a 0.9 per cent increase from March 2025. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales were up 2.1 per cent to 3,126.
Detached homes saw the biggest bump in year-over-year sales, up 5.2 per cent across the region. There were also 1.7 per cent more condo sales compared with the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the semi-detached market fell 6.9 per cent year-over-year, while townhouses saw 1.7 per cent fewer sales.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2026.
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press