It appears to be a buyers’ market in the GTA as new listings surged and sales dropped last month.

Greater Toronto home sales were down 7.1 percent in September of 2023 compared with September of 2022, with sales of semi-detached houses and townhouses showing even bigger declines from last year.

The latest report from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says last month’s 4,642 home sales also marked a 12.1 percent month-over-month decline from August.

The board’s experts attribute the downward trend to the impact of high borrowing costs, high inflation, uncertainty surrounding future Bank of Canada decisions and slower economic growth.

The average home price in September was $1,119,428 which is 3.4 percent higher than in August and a 3 percent increase from last September.

And new listings surged 44 percent to just 16,258 last month compared with extremely low levels in September 2022, as the number of listings also trended upward on a month-over-month basis.

“Elevated borrowing costs are expected until mid-2024, after which they will start to trend lower, which suggests there will be an uptick in demand for housing ownership in the second half of next year,” said TRREB president Paul Baron.