Toronto area's plummeting home prices jolt into dying real estate market

Nosediving home prices may have actually just jolted some life back into the hollowed-out Greater Toronto Area (GTA) real estate market.

The latest Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) figures reveal increased demand for new homes in the region, and it's a rosier picture than you might have guessed.

Almost 5,950 homes in the region changed hands last month, marking a seven per cent increase over the previous April.

Month-over-month home sales have been on the rise in 2026, and following year-over-year declines in January and February, sales have actually started to turn around in the spring. Month-over-month sales volumes continued their ascent in April 2026, while also marking the second consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases.

Sales volumes exceeded 2025 levels in both March and April, which TRREB President Daniel Steinfeld attributes to "more affordable housing market conditions on the back of lower home prices."

Steinfeld notes that, if market conditions continue in this direction, this "uptick in home buying activity so far this spring [...] could be a signal to intending homebuyers who remain on the sidelines."

New listings declined by 9.3 per cent from the previous April, with just shy of 17,100 homes listed on the MLS system.

Despite this increase in sales and drop in new listings, the average price of a home in the GTA continues to trend downward. Composite benchmark prices dropped 6.6 per cent year-over-year in April, while the average selling price in the region fell by 4.9 per cent since April 2025, to $1,051,969.

TRREB

"Lower home prices and borrowing costs over the past year have been a catalyst for some homebuyers this spring," said TRREB's Chief Information Officer Jason Mercer.

However, Mercer notes that "we still have a substantial amount of pent-up demand in the marketplace," and adds that "more certainty on the trade front and an easing in geopolitical tensions would result in further improvements in market activity."