Toronto was experiencing a cooler spring real estate market this year than the season usually warrants, data shows, but there are signs of a market upturn.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) reported that home sales were down in April compared to the same time last year, new listings were up “strongly,” and there was little movement in prices. TRREB counted 7,114 sales in April in the GTA, down five per cent from April 2023.

John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty, said that the market is “cooling down quite a bit.” He said for the first two weeks in May, sales for low-rise houses are down about 40 per cent from where they normally are, and condo sales are down 27 per cent.

“High [interest] rates are obviously a big factor in that,” he said. “[With] prices and rates this high, a lot of buyers are sitting on the sidelines.”

However, another realtor says that most of the cool down in the market this spring has been in condos, not houses.

Jamie Dempster said that he’s seeing houses still get sharp competition and sell for over asking, although possibly with only five offers as opposed to 10. Condos, though, are not selling as well as the city faces a glut of supply, he said.

That lack of action with condos is creating a “domino effect,” according to Dempster, where the demand for houses is lessened from those who would otherwise trade up.

“If one piece of the domino isn’t functioning well, then you’re going to see a slowdown,” he said. “It’s a chain reaction.”

Dempster predicts that the housing market will remain strong through the summer but the condo segment will still be relatively cool. Pasalis predicts that it will be a “sluggish, boring” market over the summer, with no chance of prices accelerating. He said even with two or three interest rate cuts, the rates will still be too high and won’t be enough to rebound the market and stimulate demand.