Condo prices in the Greater Toronto Area fell 5.9 per cent in January compared to the same time last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
It’s a significant drop compared to the larger province-wide condo market, where prices in a year-over-year comparison fell only 2.5 per cent, and townhouses were steady at a 0.9 per cent increase.
However, single-family house prices in the GTA were more stable at a 2.7 per cent increase from the year before, and townhouses were essentially unchanged at 0.5 per cent, using seasonally adjusted numbers without accounting for inflation.
Since inflation is running between 1.9 and 2.7 per cent — depending on what measure you choose — single-family house prices have stayed more or less the same.
Across the province, real estate prices saw a year of stability from January 2024 to 2025. On a year-over-year basis, the average single-family home in the province sold for $960,300 in January, up only 1.3 per cent from the average of $947,700 they sold for in 2024.
In their latest release on the national real estate market, national CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart pointed to nervousness about U.S. tariffs as a dampening factor in sales. The slowdown appears to have started not long after U.S. president Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, when his threats of tariffs, which escalated to threats of annexation, first began.
“The standout trends to begin the year were a big jump in new supply at an uncommon time of year, as well as a weakening in sales which only showed up around the last week of January,” he wrote.
“The timing of that change in demand leaves little doubt as to the cause – uncertainty around tariffs. Together with higher supply, this means markets that had been steadily tightening up since last fall are now suddenly in a softer pricing situation again, particularly in British Columbia and Ontario.”
But despite the tariff threat, there are indications that the housing market could pick up in the spring.
“While we continue to anticipate a more active spring for the housing sector, the threat of a trade war with our largest trading partner is a major dark cloud on the horizon,” wrote CREA chair James Mabey.
“While uncertainty about the economy and jobs will no doubt keep some prospective buyers on the sidelines, a softer pricing environment alongside lower interest rates will be an opportunity for others."
Within Ontario, sales in the north continued to show stronger growth than those elsewhere in the province — single-family homes in Sault Ste. Marie were up 12.1 per cent year-over-year, and those in North Bay were up 10.1 per cent.
Use the interactive below to explore home prices in your region.
