Durham region was somewhat of an outlier with 71 per cent of homes selling for less than asking — the lowest share of below-asking sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) this November.
Toronto followed at 77 per cent, beating out York (81 per cent) and both Halton and Peel (83 per cent each), according to real estate firm, Wahi.
Across the GTA, nearly four out of five homes sold for less than the asking price throughout the region during the penultimate month of the year.
However, for several neighbourhoods with lower prices, there are lingering signs of stronger competition among home buyers, according to the latest analysis from Canadian digital real estate platform and brokerage Wahi.
This November, 97 per cent of GTA neighbourhoods with at least five home sales during the month were submerged in underbidding territory, while just 3 per cent saw multiple offers or other negotiations drive sale prices higher. This is the second-highest share of underbidding at the neighbourhood level since Wahi began tracking bidding competition in July of 2022.
November’s numbers are little changed from the previous month, when 98 per cent of neighbourhoods were underbid, matching all-time highs in December 2023 and January 2024. They are also comparable to last November, during which time 91 per cent of neighbourhoods were underbid. “Prices continue to fall in the GTA, but not enough to turn the tide on the region’s overall housing-affordability challenges,” says Wahi Economist Ryan McLaughlin.
Half Of Household Income
In fact, recent analysis conducted by Wahi with Perch, a top digital mortgage platform, found that in Toronto, the median household income amounts to half of what is required to qualify for a mortgage on a typical home. “Nonetheless, certainly some home buyers are taking advantage of lower prices, lower interest rates, and less competitive market conditions in general — particularly in more affordable pockets of the region,” McLaughlin continues.
In all but one of the nine neighbourhoods that landed in overbidding territory this November, the median list price was less than $1 million. This suggests that what competition remains in the market is concentrated in communities boasting relatively better affordability than the rest of the region.
A variety of factors can influence bidding trends, from seasonality to selling strategies. For instance, in some cases, Realtors may be more likely to price a home below market value in hopes of attracting multiple offers.
High-end Most Underbid
In contrast to the neighbourhoods with the strongest homebuying competition, the most underbid neighbourhoods last month had median prices between approximately $2 million up to about $4 million.
Many smaller post-war homes located on larger lots have been torn down over the years, creating an inventory of harder-to-price custom luxury homes. Realtors suggest that it can be more difficult to establish a reasonable list price for a custom home due to a lack of comparable properties.
When looking at all transactions regardless of neighbourhood, Wahi found that 78 per cent of homes that changed hands in November did so for less than the list price, up from 72 per cent a year ago. An additional 19 per cent sold for above asking, and in 3 per cent of sales, the seller obtained the list price.
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