Buyers are still nabbing homes for way under asking price in most parts of the GTA

The number of people willing to forfeit decades of their life's earnings to own a sliver of Toronto area real estate may be starting to creep back up again after a rocky year, but it seems that even with a bit more competition, many buyers are still getting quite the bargain (relatively speaking, of course).

Realtors estimate that far more homes will be changing hands in the coming months, leading to higher average prices in the New Year, but new data shows that the vast majority of people bidding on houses and condos in the area are still successfully offering way less than the asking price — more people last month than in the month prior, in fact.

The November 2024 report on underbidding and overbidding from Wahi shows that 75 per cent of homes sold in the GTA last month went for less than homeowners were seeking.

This is compared to 70 per cent in October 2024 — a continuation of a trend after the year's peak for bidding wars in March.

"Bidding activity surged during the spring market before retreating," Wahi writes, "but subsequent rate cuts from the Bank of Canada did not spark a significant increase in bidding activity through the second half of the year."

Graph from Wahi's latest market overview.

The firm's team also adds that though there were more homes being overbid this past March than March 2023, this year's high of 43 per cent of neighbourhoods in "overbidding territory" — where the median price of homes sold was lower than the median listing price that month — was far lower than last year's, when homes in a whopping 68 per cent of the region were being bid up (in May).

As of November, buyers are getting away with handing over less than asking price in a whopping 91 per cent of neighbourhoods, versus the mere 7 per cent of neighbourhoods where bidding wars are still the norm. In October, these figures were 88 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

The pockets that saw the biggest difference between selling price and asking price as far as underbidding were Toronto's North York (where homes sold for an average of $153,000 less than they were listed for), King in King Township ($148,000 less), Oakville's East Lake ($109,000 less), Brampton's Vales of Humber ($102,999 less) and Brookville in Milton ($99,900 less).

The average price in these areas ranged from to $1,938,000 to $3,450,000, giving more room for price negotiations.

Chart from Wahi's latest market overview.

On the most-overbid side were Markham's Milliken Mills West and Wismer (where the typical home was overbid by $201,888 and $66,112, respectively), Kennedy Park in Scarborough (overbid by a median of $29,500), Toronto's Little Portugal-Brockton Village (overbid by $18,000) and Rural Richmond Hill (overbid by $15,550, on average).

The price point of these neighbourhoods ranged from $970,500 to $1,603,000.

Chart from Wahi's latest market overview.

Still, Royal LePage is forecasting a 5 per cent uptick in the typical sale price of a GTA home generally by the last few months of 2025 thanks to more demand in the New Year, while RE/MAX believes areas like Toronto, Durham Region, Kingston, London and Simcoe County will all see double-digit price acceleration year-over-year.

Though sales volumes have been up these past few months compared to the same time in 2023, sales decreased by 11.8 per cent from October to November 2024, though both were higher than September.