(Toronto) Competition among buyers appears to have returned to the Toronto real estate market last month, with the average price of residential properties in the area rising above the average list price for the first time since May 2022, the Greater Toronto Real Estate Board reported Wednesday. .

The average price of a Toronto home hit $1,108,606 last month, up from $1,096,519 the previous month, the real estate board said.

However, the average price was still down nearly 15% on a yearly basis, as it stood at $1,298,666 last March, when bidding wars kept the market at a feverish pace.

The real estate board sees these numbers as signs of tightening after several sluggish months, during which sales paled in comparison to typical years and prices began to decline as interest rates and mortgage rates soared.

The new data indicates that potential buyers are regaining the confidence to return to the market despite rising borrowing costs, the real estate board estimated, and are looking to take advantage of lower prices while they last.

The compound benchmark price was $1,118,500 in March, down 16.2% year over year, but up month over month on an actual and seasonally adjusted basis.

A total of 6,896 sales were recorded in March, compared to 4,765 in February. However, sales were still down almost 37% from 10,862 transactions in March 2020.

New registrations numbered 11,184 last month, down 44% from the previous March.