Toronto Prices Moving Up Slowly

Houses

February house prices increased by 4% vs. January, but were 7% lower than last year. Combining January and February, 2026 prices are 5% lower than last year. Interestingly enough, that’s exactly the same year-over-year decrease that we saw in 2025 as compared with 2024. So we are now in the fourth year of annual price declines.

The inventory of houses for sale in Toronto fell back into the 3-4 months range that we saw throughout 2025. So we are once again in a balanced market, favouring neither buyers nor sellers. Well priced homes in popular areas are selling quickly, many with multiple offers, while homes that are priced beyond what buyers feel they are worth often remain longer on the market. This is typical of a healthy, balanced market, but very different from the hot sellers’ markets we’ve seen for many years

For perspective, it’s instructive to look at Toronto house prices over the past several years since before Covid. During 2016-2017 there was a ‘mini-bubble’ that broke in early 2017 and resulted in steeply falling prices during the spring and summer of that year. Prices bottomed out in 2018 and remained steady through 2019. Then Covid hit. The combination of ultra low interest rates and ‘free money’ to offset the lockdowns led to a 19% year-over-year rise in prices in 2021, followed by a further 11% increase by 2022. This 30% bubble broke in the spring of 2022 because of rapidly increasing interest rates. Prices have fallen quite a bit since 2022, but are still 18% higher than when this all started in 2018. And, since bubbles often retrace to where they started, prices could potentially fall up to another 18% before the bubble completely unwinds.

Condo Apartments

Prices for condos also rose in February, to 5% above January. Prices remain well below last year, however. Toronto condo market woes are well known and well documented, and there is, as yet, no price bottom in sight.

The inventory of condos for sale fell in February, but remains deep in buyers’ market territory, above 6 months’ supply. We need to see lower inventory before we can expect the condo market to stabilize.

Bottom Line

Prices for both houses and condos rose in February, and should continue increasing modestly over the next 2-3 months. However, both house and condo prices remain in a longer term year-over-year decline that could continue for some time.