January home sales in Greater Toronto Area down 22% from year ago

TORONTO – The number of homes sold in the Toronto region in January was down sharply compared with a year ago.

The Toronto Real Estate Board says Greater Toronto Area realtors reported 4,019 home sales for January through the MLS system, down 22 per cent from a record 5,155 a year ago.

READ MORE: January real estate numbers in Hamilton, Burlington feel the chill

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The average selling price was $736,783, down from $768,351 a year ago.

The move lower came as the number of new listings increased to 8,585 compared with 7,314 new listings entered in January 2017.

READ MORE: This $750K Toronto listing could be the litmus test for Canada’s housing market

Toronto home sales started last year on a hot streak, but slowed after the Ontario government moved to cool the market.

A new stress test for homebuyers who do not require mortgage insurance that came into effect this year and higher mortgage rates have also weighed on the market.