By Rob Pilon: Well, another record was set, namely the lowest number of "August sales" in the last two decades. Only 5,294 freehold and condo properties sold in August 2023. Only three Augusts had sales in the 5,000's in the last 22 years: 

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• August 2023: 5,294 sales (due to crushing affordability because of high mortgage rates on large mortgages of                                                    high-priced homes)

• August 2022: 5,627 sales (due to continuing sales decline after months of decreasing sales from the price peak                                                  of February 2022)

• August 2002: 5,418 sales (due to the lower number of houses and condos in existance in 2002 throughout all                                                      TRREB areas, when the average price was only $266,154)

 

All other Augusts enjoyed superior sales in the last 22 years:

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Sales in the 6,000's occured in 8 Augusts

Sales in the 7,000's occured in 6 Augusts

Sales in the 8,000's occured in 3 Augusts

Sales in the 9,000's occured in 1 August

Sales in the 10,000's occured in 1 August (10,775 sales took place in August 2020 because the spring market collapsed after the emergency pandemic shut down in March 2020. Basically, typical robust spring market activity in 2020 was delayed and occurred in the summer)

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I doubt this will be the end of stagnant sales in the months to come, even through the fall market.

 

Average prices for all property types in all TRREB areas came in at $1,082,496. That continued the price decline since the mini-peak of May 2023 when prices reached $1,196,101. August prices are typically subdued, even in healthy markets. It'll be interesting to see if prices rebound in the fall. If they do, it will be only marginally. Certainly nothing to write home about.

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Average prices in August 2023 dropped 3.2% from July 2023. Here are the top 5 cities that had the greatest price drops from July 2023 to August 2023:

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1. Markham prices fell 6.3%

2. Toronto prices fell 5.6%

3. Whitby prices fell 4.9%

4. Brampton prices fell 3.6%

5. Vaughan prices fell 2.8%

 

Here are the top 5 cities that had the greatest price gains from July 2023 to August 2023:

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1. Aurora prices increased 12.7% (but previous month saw a price drop of 7.3% - smaller sales data sets have greater swings and are less reliable)

2. Richmond Hill prices increased 5.1% (but previous month saw a price drop of 8.2%)

3. Newmarket prices increased 1.0%

4. Pickering prices increased 0.6%

5. Milton prices increased 0.4%

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At the peak in May of this year, 49% of properties sold for over the asking price. In August 2023, the percent of homes that sold over asking fell to just 28%. Nevertheless, some markets enjoyed more elevated buyer interest:

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• Ajax: 59% of properties sold over asking (61% of all properties that sold over asking were under 1M)

• Oshawa: 55% of properties sold over asking (87% of all properties that sold over asking were under 1M)

• Pickering: 48% of properties sold over asking (56% of all properties that sold over asking were under 1M)

• Whitby: 42% of properties sold over asking (72% of all properties that sold over asking were under 1M)

• Aurora: 40% of properties sold over asking (19% of all properties that sold over asking were under 1M)

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See a trend?

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Of the top 5 cities with the highest percentage of homes selling over the asking price in August 2023 in all major TRREB regions, four of the five cities were in Durham, and the vast majority of the homes selling over asking in Durham were first-time buyer properties that sold under $1,000,000. It follows that cities with the lowest average sales price in all major TRREB regions are:

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• Oshawa: $815,098 was the average sales price in August

• Ajax: $983,253 was the average sales price in August

• Brampton: $1,013,744 was the average sales price in August

• Whitby: $1,021,163 was the average sales price in August

• Pickering: $1,035,231 was the average sales price in August

 

Unlike Toronto and most 905 suburbs, Durham provides a variety of housing choices that are more budget-friendly. This affordability has attracted numerous first-time buyers to the region. Additionally, it serves as a viable option for investors seeking to buy rental properties with the hopes of a positive return on investment given an adequate downpayment.

 

In more affluent Aurora, most homes selling over asking went for well over $1,000,000.

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The months of inventory (MOI) as an average of all TRREB regions combined was 2.9 months. In other words, if no other properties came on the market, it would take 2.9 months to sell all existing homes and condos according to the sales pace in August. The higher the months of inventory, the longer it takes to sell homes ultimately leading to price reductions from owners who can't wait any longer. 2.9 months of inventory is the highest since January of this year.

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Here are cities struggling the most with languishing sales in all major TRREB regions:

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• Caledon: 6.6 months of inventory

• Oakville: 3.4 months of inventory

• Vaughan: 3.4 months of inventory

• Richmond Hill: 3.4 months of inventory

• Brampton: 3.3 months of inventory

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Below are tables for the main TRREB cities and towns: