TORONTO — The Greater Toronto Area real estate market saw its hottest July since the pandemic, marking a turnaround from previous months when buyers held back while waiting for the economy to improve.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said home sales rose 10.9 per cent in July compared with a year earlier as 6,100 properties changed hands.
That was the most activity recorded in the month since 2021.
"People sort of held off, held off, held off in the spring and I think for some reason, in July, they kind of finally realized that this uncertainty is the new norm, and they needed to get on with the decisions they needed to be making in their lives," said Davelle Morrison, a broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd.
Sales were up 13 per cent from June on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, as the board said improved affordability driven by lower prices and borrowing costs "is starting to translate into increased home sales."
The average selling price decreased 5.5 per cent compared with a year earlier to $1,051,719, and the composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 5.4 per cent year-over-year.
"More relief is required, particularly where borrowing costs are concerned, but it’s clear that a growing number of households are finding affordable options for home ownership," said TRREB president Elechia Barry-Sproule in a press release.
In previous months, industry watchers noted widespread hesitation among potential buyers due to economic uncertainty associated with the Canada-U.S. trade dispute.
April saw a 23 per cent annual decline in the number of homes changing hands, followed by a 13 per cent drop in May and roughly two per cent decrease in June.
"It was stressing people out," said Morrison.
"We had quite a few clients in March, April say to us, 'You know what, we're going to hold off.' Some of those people came back, I would say, during the month of July."
Morrison said clients also recognized it was a good time to buy in light of relatively low interest rates compared with last year, along with growing inventory.
TRREB said 17,613 properties were newly listed in the GTA last month, up 5.7 per cent compared with July 2024.
The number of active listings reached 30,215 last month, up 26.2 per cent from last year's inventory of 23,936 homes.
But TRREB chief information officer Jason Mercer said recent data suggests the Canadian economy is still "treading water in the face of trade uncertainty with the United States."
"A key way to mitigate the impact of trade uncertainty is to promote growth in the domestic economy. The housing sector can be a catalyst for growth, with most spin-off expenditures accruing to regional economies," he said in a press release.
"Further interest rate cuts would spur home sales and see more spin-off expenditures, positively impacting the economy and job growth."
Last week, the Bank of Canada left its policy rate unchanged for the third time in a row, but said future cuts may be warranted as U.S. tariffs persist. The central bank’s policy rate remains at 2.75 per cent
Governor Tiff Macklem said the economy has shown “some resilience” amid trade uncertainty, and that underlying inflation is proving stubborn.
Morrison said she doesn't necessarily expect momentum to grow in the coming months unless conditions change. She said the economic picture is "still murky for some people."
"The fall market, it's not going to be a roaring success in my opinion," she said.
"I see some sellers there who didn't get their price in the spring, who took their properties off the market that are thinking, 'OK, we're going to re-list in the fall and then we're going to get our price' and I'm like, 'Not so fast.' I just don't think that's going to happen."
In the City of Toronto, there were 2,205 sales last month, an 11 per cent increase from July 2024. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales were up 10.9 per cent to 3,895.
All property types throughout the region saw more sales overall in July compared with a year ago.
The largest increase was in the semi-detached segment, which was up 25.5 per cent, followed by detached houses with an 11.3 per cent increase.
There were 7.9 per cent more townhouses sold and a 5.8 per cent increase in the number of condos that changed hands.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025.
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
