Here is what may be in store for Toronto's housing market in 2024

Skyrocketing borrowing costs coupled with economic uncertainty left many potential homebuyers in the GTA sitting on the sidelines in 2023. But sluggish Toronto home sales may not be the story for 2024 if the Bank of Canada follows through with expected interest rate cuts this year, industry analysts say.

Skyrocketing borrowing costs coupled with economic uncertainty left many potential homebuyers in the GTA sitting on the sidelines in 2023.

But sluggish Toronto home sales may not be the story for 2024 if the Bank of Canada follows through with expected interest rate cuts this year, industry analysts say.

“If history is any guide, once people buy into the notion that interest rates are going to be declining, you will start to see noticeable movement back into the market… even speculation on rate cuts has an impact on the market,” Jason Mercer, chief market analyst at the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), told CP24.com.

“So when we actually see real tangible rate cuts, I think you will see an initial wave of people who have been putting their housing purchase on hold start to move back into the marketplace.”

According to the latest available data from TREBB, Greater Toronto home sales fell six per cent in November 2023 compared to November 2022. That was down 8.7 per cent compared to October.

Sales, in fact, hovered around a 20-year low for much of 2023 outside a brief surge in activity in the spring.

The average home price in Toronto in November was $1,082,179, which was essentially flat year-over-year.