Homes in these cities are selling for under the list price in the Greater Toronto Area

Homes in the Greater Toronto Area are selling for under the list price but some areas are seeing larger differences than others.

Last July, the Bank of Canada raised the key interest rate to five per cent, which increased borrowing costs and led to a sluggish real estate market.

Now, despite two rate cuts, the market hasn’t rebounded, a new report from online real estate site Zoocasa states. Many house prices remain high and buyers are waiting.

“This cooling demand has led to many homes selling under the listing price, especially in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area,” the report states.

This month a three-bedroom home in Mississauga sold for $925,000, below the $999,999 list price, and well under the detached home average price of $1,589,373.

Zoocasa compared list prices versus selling prices from Toronto Regional Real Estate Board data in August in the Greater Toronto Area. All prices are average prices of approximately five to 200 listings per city and all property types from Aug. 1 to Aug. 22.

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The report found that across the entire Toronto region, homes are selling for an average of $67,730 below the list price.

The best deals are in some of Toronto’s most expensive markets.

In King, homes sold for 9.7 per cent under (more than $200,000) the average list price of $2,154,98.

Buyers looking for properties in Oakville, Burlington, Vaughan, and Halton Hills will find homes selling for at least $100,000 below the average list price.

The only city in the GTA where homes sell for higher than the average listing price is Markham, although the difference is minimal, the report notes. In Markham, the average selling price is $1,311,268, which is 0.7 per cent higher than the average listing price of $1,302,436.

Looking at the sales-to-new-listings ratio, Zoocasa found many GTA cities are buyers markets right now including  Brampton, Bradford, Innisfil, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, and King.

The only markets that are not favouring buyers are Oshawa, Orangeville, Uxbridge, Stouffville, and Burlington, which are all balanced markets, the report states.

However, Oshawa and Burlington have sales-to-new-listings ratios that are just slightly above 40 per cent, meaning they could likely become buyer’s markets in the coming months.

“Sellers are adjusting their expectations as homes stay on the market longer, which is putting buyers in a stronger position to negotiate.  This is particularly evident in areas where inventory is abundant,” says Carrie Lysenko, Zoocasa CEO. “For anyone who’s been on the fence, this Fall might offer the best chance to secure a favourable deal.”

See the full report here.