Fewer GTA homes for sale: what it changes for you

Active GTA listings fell 11.3% in August to 24,482 and new listings fell 14.1%. Prices are still down from a year ago, but buyer choice is shrinking.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board published its August figures on 3 September, and the number worth your attention is not the price. It is how little there is to buy.

How much less choice is there?

Active listings across the TRREB area finished August at 24,482, down 11.3 per cent from a year earlier. New listings came in at 12,075, down 14.1 per cent. Sales barely moved, at 5,057, down 2.1 per cent.

That is the story in three numbers. Roughly one in seven homes that reached the market last August did not reach it this August, while almost the same number of buyers turned up. TRREB's own release says sales were "arguably limited by less choice in some neighbourhoods".

Are prices rising again?

Not in the published figures. The MLS Home Price Index composite benchmark was down 4.5 per cent against August 2025, and the average selling price was $993,410, down 2.7 per cent. Compared with July, TRREB reports the index was essentially flat and the average price edged up.

So the discount against last year is still there. What has thinned out is the inventory that produced it.

TRREB President Daniel Steinfeld described a trade off for buyers between "waiting for greater economic certainty and purchasing before prices move higher", and said improving conditions for sellers could bring more listings to market. That is his reading, not a published figure. Nobody publishes next month's number in advance.

Is it a competitive market yet?

Not by the measures that would show it. A home took 35 days to sell in August on its current listing, up from 33 a year ago, and 51 days counting earlier listings of the same property. The average sale closed at 97 per cent of the asking price, and months of inventory stood at 4.6.

Those are not bidding war numbers. Financing and inspection conditions are still normal, and a home that has been sitting is still worth an offer under asking.

Which kind of home moved most?

Detached houses held up best. The regional average detached price was $1,288,669, down 1.8 per cent, on sales up 0.5 per cent. Condo apartments averaged $617,593, down 3.6 per cent, on sales down 2.6 per cent. Townhouses had the hardest year of the four, with prices down 8.6 per cent and sales down 9.5 per cent.

Inside the City of Toronto, a detached house averaged $1,525,749 and a condo apartment $651,648.

What does this change for you?

If you are buying, the list of homes that match what you want is shorter than it was in the spring, and shorter again in tight pockets. Two things follow. Book the viewing sooner, because the backup you were counting on may not be listed this month. And settle your financing number before you shop rather than after. Start with what you can carry.

If you are selling, you have 14 per cent fewer new competitors than a seller had last August. That is not permission to price above the market. It means a correctly priced home is being compared against a shorter list. What the sale actually nets you after commission and closing costs is the figure that decides whether this autumn works.

If you are staying put, nothing here moves your position. The price index is still below last year, and your renewal is decided by rates rather than by listing counts.

One caution. These are one month of figures published by TRREB for a region that runs from Burlington to Oshawa. Your street is not the region.