Home prices down between 6 and 11 per cent last month in Oakville, Burlington, Milton

Home prices in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills continued to drop last month.

The average selling price of a home in Halton dropped by between six and 11 per cent in December when compared to the rest of the year.

In December, there were 108 homes sales in Burlington, with a median cost of $936,750, down from the year-to-date median of $998,450, a drop of 6.1 per cent.

In Halton Hills there were 30 home sales with a median cost of $905,000, down from the YTD median of $999,999, a drop of 9.5 per cent.

In Milton there were 87 home sales with a median cost of $910,000, down from $1,023,000, a drop of 11 per cent.

In Oakville there were 136 home sales with a median cost of $1.25 million, down from $1.36M, a drop of 8.1 per cent.

The data was included in the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board report for the month.

The falling prices happened while the overall demand for housing remained buoyed by record immigration in 2023. However, more of this demand was pointed at the rental market.

“High borrowing costs coupled with unrealistic federal mortgage qualification standards resulted in an unaffordable home ownership market for many households in 2023,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce.

“With that said, relief seems to be on the horizon. Borrowing costs are expected to trend lower in 2024. Lower mortgage rates coupled with a relatively resilient economy should see a rebound in home sales this year,”

TRREB reported 65,982 home sales in the GTA in 2023, a 12.1 per cent dip compared to 2022. Despite an uptick during the spring and summer, the number of new listings also declined in 2023.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, sales increased compared to November, while new listings declined for the third straight month.

The average selling price for all home types in 2023 was $1,126,604, representing a 5.4 per cent decline compared to 2022.

“Buyers who were active in the market benefitted from more choice throughout 2023,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer. “This allowed many of these buyers to negotiate lower selling prices, alleviating some of the impact of higher borrowing costs. Assuming borrowing costs trend lower this year, look for tighter market conditions to prompt renewed price growth in the months ahead.”