Many people still want more space, especially families looking for detached homes. The Greater Toronto Area’s spring housing market is not exactly rebounding, but it is showing signs of life.
Overbidding on the Rise
According to new data from digital real estate platform Wahi, 13% of Greater Toronto Area neighbourhoods were in overbidding territory in April, up from 6% in March. That means more communities saw homes selling above asking as the spring market moved forward.
Still, most of the region remains in buyer-friendly territory, with 84% of neighbourhoods seeing homes sell for below asking and 2% selling at asking. More communities saw homes selling above asking as the spring market moves forward.
Selective Competition
The return of overbidding in select parts of the region does not mean the GTA is back to the frenzied market many buyers and sellers may remember from the pandemic years. Instead, the market is more selective, with competition emerging in pockets where homes offer more space at relatively attainable prices.
The clearest divide is between single-family homes and condos. In April, 21% of neighbourhoods with at least five single-family home sales were in overbidding territory. By comparison, only 3% of neighbourhoods were overbid when looking only at condo sales.
Buyer Behaviour
That tells us something important about buyer behaviour. Many people still want more space, especially families looking for detached, semi-detached, row or townhomes. Buyers appear to be gravitating toward neighbourhoods where single-family homes feel more attainable compared with the rest of the GTA.
While competition is spreading to more neighbourhoods, it has not yet translated into a broader surge in bidding across the market. Much of the region’s strongest demand this year has been found within the City of Toronto, and that remained the case in April.
Four out of the five top overbidding communities were found in central parts of the city. The sole outlier was Rouge Woods in Richmond Hill.
Price Divide
There is also still a major price divide between the most competitive and least competitive areas. The most underbid neighbourhoods continued to be those with much higher prices than the region’s norm. Two of the top-5 underbid neighbourhoods — Lawrence Park and Casa Loma — were in Old Toronto, while the other three could be found in Eastlake, Oakville, York Mills, North York, and Kleinburg, Vaughan.
These areas had median sale prices ranging from about $2.2 million to more than $4.6 million, while the most overbid neighbourhoods were all in the $1.2-million to $1.4-million range.
Advice for Buyers
Knowing where homes are selling above, below, or at asking gives buyers a clearer sense of where they may have room to negotiate and where they should be prepared to move quickly.
The best opportunities may not be found by looking at the GTA as a whole, but by understanding which neighbourhoods are attracting competition, which are cooling, and where affordability is still drawing buyers in.
Benjy Katchen is the CEO of Wahi, a digital real estate company that redefines the homebuying experience by putting more power into consumers’ hands. Visit www.wahi.com
