The sales in March 2018 were down by 39.5 per cent compared to March 2017 and down by 17.6 per cent relative to average March sales for the previous 10 years.

The number of new listings was also down. A total of 14,866 new properties came on the market, which represents a 12.4 per cent decrease compared to March 2017 and a 3 per cent drop compared to the average for the previous 10 years.

TREB President Tim Syrianos says the sales are down due to "the effects of the Fair Housing Plan, the new OSFI-mandated stress test and generally higher borrowing costs," which have made some buyers put their purchasing decisions on hold.

The average price dropped to $784,558 — a 14.3 per cent decrease compared to the record breaking average prices in March 2017. Just as Jason Mercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis said,

We're comparing two starkly different periods of time: when we had less than a month of inventory versus this year with inventory levels ranging between two and three months. It makes sense that we haven’t seen prices climb back to last year’s peak.

The sales our down, but we are experiencing multiple offers again on many properties. We're also getting calls from many buyers looking to move this spring and sellers needing help preparing to sell as well. So feel free to ignore the negative news. There is a great quote about the news: "The news informs us of what to include on our prayer list." The numbers being down is probably healthy in fact, 2017 was a record year after all.

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