Mississauga house prices dipping–but not crashing–as crisis lingers

When the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdowns hit Canada, experts wondered if the GTA’s white-hot housing market would start to teeter after months of striking sales and price growth. 

While sales in Mississauga and surrounding municipalities have fallen off a cliff (which was expected at a time when in-person open houses are on hiatus), prices are actually up year-over-year (although down month-over-month). 

Nik Oberoi, a Mississauga-based sales representative with Cloud Realty, recently launched a website that tracks sales and price data in Mississauga. According to the site, prices have dropped 6.26 per cent over the past 30 days, but are still up 4.3 per cent compared to April 2019. 

According to the site, detached house prices in Mississauga dropped from $1,273,225 in March 2020 to $1,190,941 in April 2020. In April 2019, detached homes cost about $1,115,065.

Semi-detached home prices dropped from $840,726 in March to $803,008 in April. In April 2019, semi-detached homes cost about $756,921.

Townhouse prices dropped from $807,193 in March to $752,971 in April. In April 2019, a Mississauga townhouse cost about $763,224. 

Condo prices dropped from $547,336 in March to $500,375 in April. In April 2019, condos cost about $472,912. 

But while prices are still high, sales are down significantly.

“As expected, the number of sales are down significantly from April 2019 and March 2020,” Oberoi says on the site. 

“April is typically a month of high sales numbers but COVID-19 has taken a lot of people out of the market. The general public is not buying because of caution, or because of employment changes.”

According to the website, sales in Mississauga have plummeted 70 per cent in 30 days. 

Sales are also down a whopping 75 per cent year-over-year. 

In April 2020, just 87 detached homes exchanged hands. Contrast that to March 2020, when 248 detached home sales were recorded.

According to the website, 111 semis changed hands in March, while just 37 were sold in April. In March, 19 townhomes sold. In April, just 7 townhouses changed hands. 

As far as condos are concerned, 225 units were sold in March and a paltry 49 were sold in April. 

Not unexpectedly, properties are sitting on the market for longer–but not much longer. 

While properties were selling in about nine days in March, they’re now sitting on the market for about 15 days–one day less than the average time spent on the market in April 2019. 

As for whether or not homes are selling for well under asking, that doesn’t appear to be the case in Mississauga. 

“List to sale ratio represents how much of the list price the property actually sells for. In a down market, you will see the percentage be far off 100 per cent,” Oberoi writes.  

“Seems like properties are still selling for approximately 98 per cent of the list price.”

Interestingly enough, detached houses sold for 97 per cent of their asking price in April 2020. Semis and towns sold for 99 per cent of their listing price, and condos sold for 98 per cent. 

While homes are still expensive, they’re no longer selling for over-asking–a sign that bidding wars are (for now, at least) a relic of a pre-pandemic era.

According to Oberoi, properties sold 3.2 per cent higher than their asking price in March. 

“Properties in April sold 1.6 per cent lower than their ask price,” Oberoi writes. 

“So sellers are still getting close to what they are asking.”