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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Posthaste: The coronavirus crisis has cut Toronto housing sales in half — in just two weeks Back to video

Think back to just a month ago: Home sales in Toronto jumped 15% in February from the month before, up 46% from the year before, as buyers stampeded back into the market.

Prices climbed more than 10%, the biggest gain in three years, leading some observers to warn that “froth” could be returning to the Canada’s biggest housing market.

Two weeks later on March 17, Ontario declared a state of emergency to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, and everything changed.

According to a report by online real estate broker Zoocasa, after just one week of social distancing Greater Toronto Area housing fell into a buyer’s market. New listings for detached and semi-detached houses dropped 14% between March 17 and 23, compared to the week before. Sales were down 38%.

This pushed the sales-to-new-listing ratio to 38% from 53% the week before. An SNLR between 40% and 60% indicates a balanced market. Anything below that threshold indicates a buyers’ market; anything above, a sellers’.