September’s residential resale market results were positive. September saw 5,592 reported sales, 8.5 percent higher than the 5,155 sales achieved last year during the same month, and a 7.6 percent increase over the 5,196 reported sales for August. There are a number of ways to interpret these positive results. An analysis of all September data would indicate that we are not witnessing a market in which buyers are increasingly becoming engaged and buying homes, but rather a market that is coming to buyers with a landscape that is motivating buyers to engage.
Inventory levels, although not record levels, are considerably higher than numbers available to buyers over the last decade. During the month of September 19,260 new listings came to market, almost 4 percent more than the 18,529 that came to market last year. It should be noted that at least 40 percent of these properties had been listed before, did not sell, and have now been re-listed, most often at a reduced asking price. These “new” listings brought the total inventory available to buyers in the Toronto and Region marketplace to almost 30,000 properties, giving buyers choice, time and leverage to negotiate purchase prices.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the average sale price came in lower than for the same month last year. Last September the average sale price was $1,112,113. This year it came in at $1,059,377, almost 5 percent lower. In fact, the average sale price has been lower for the last 8 consecutive months compared to the same month last year. Only during January of this year did the average sale price come in higher, and marginally at that, than January of 2024. The decline in average sale price has been universal, across property type and in all Toronto and Region trading areas. Notwithstanding the decline in average sale prices, sales of all types of properties throughout the Region (with the exception of townhouses in the 905 Region) increased,
and in some cases dramatically. In the City of Toronto sales of detached properties increased by 12.5 percent, detached by 17.6 percent, townhouses by an eye-popping 39.2 percent, and even condominium apartments, the weakest component of the real estate market during 2025, increased by 7.4 percent.
Increases in inventory levels, which are providing buyers with time, choice, and leverage are resulting in longer sale periods. In September, on average, it took 33 days for residential properties to sell, over 22 percent longer than last year. On average, properties sold for 98 percent of their asking price, with considerable variation depending on housing type and trading area. For example, detached properties in Toronto’s central core sold for $2,485,719 at 96 percent of their asking price, but surprisingly in only 27 days. Condominium apartments sold in 38 days and for 97 percent of their asking price. The average sale price for condominium apartments in Toronto’s central districts came in at $718,607.
Semi-detached properties in Toronto’s eastern districts, particularly in Riverdale, Leslieville and The Beaches remain the most sought-after housing type. In those neighbourhoods all semi-detached properties sold for a little more than 110 percent of their asking price, and remarkably, in only a little more than 11 days. Having said that, the average price of semi-detached properties in September in Toronto was almost 9 percent lower than it was a year ago.
It is clear that the market is improving, but at the expense of average sale prices. The last few years have been challenging. High mortgage financing costs, major geopolitical shifts, and trade and tariff tensions have weighed heavily on the residential resale market, not only in the Toronto Region, but throughout the country. Price reductions have been the result for all property types. Those price reductions as evidenced in the September market data have directly impacted an increase in sales, although still for below 10 year averages. The impact of these market events may be fading, which will result in a more stable market, with continued improvement in sales and an even more gradual improvement in average sale prices as we move towards the end of 2025 and into the New Year.
