Toronto home sales fall 44% from last year, fewest new listings in 20 years

Toronto-area home sales in September fell 44 per cent compared to last year and 10 per cent from August as the market saw the lowest number of new listings in 20 years.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales for the typically busy month were bogged down by interest and mortgage rate hikes.

The numbers mark a continuation of a market cooldown that has already put a damper on bidding wars and discouraged some sellers from listing their properties because they likely won't fetch as much money as their neighbours did at the start of the year, when the market was moving at a torrid pace.

There were 5,038 home sales in the Greater Toronto Area in September.

The region also saw 11,237 new listings, an almost 17 per cent drop from a year ago and the lowest number for the month since 2002.

The fall in new listings was coupled with the composite benchmark price reaching $1,086,762, a 4.3 per cent dip from last year, but an almost one per cent rise from August.