Housing prices drop dramatically last month, from $37,000 in Clarington to $178,000 in King

The Greater Toronto rollercoaster might be giving home sellers that sinking feeling, especially if you were trying to unload a high-end home in King City or Oakville, were prices on detached homes fell by as must as $178,000 in the last month alone.

These cities are seeing detached prices fall greater than the median annual household income, in just 30 days.

In Durham Region the losses were more modest but still significant, with price drops this month ranging from $73,000 in Scugog and $69,000 in Pickering to $37,000 in Clarington and $41,000 in Oshawa.

Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) data shows detached prices fell in July across the board, with the benchmark for single-family units dropping by tens of thousands in the month. Some markets even saw prices fall over $100,000 in the 31 day period – $178,000 in King Township and $158,000 on average in Oakville.

It’s great news for buyers, at least in theory.

After such large gains over the past two years, it shouldn’t be surprising to see some sort of price moderation though the size and velocity of this decline is something never before seen in this market. According to TREBB, banks like RBC and BMO don’t expect the pain to ease soon but have said it should be a welcome event to restore a bit of market balance.

With demand softening as rates increase and exuberance dissipates it’s now in a buyer’s market, where prices are expected to fall even further.

Not even the City of Toronto’s coveted detached homes were immune to the mayhem, with the benchmark price falling $66,600 for the month, nearly half the amount needed for a market to be in a “technical correction.”

“That highlights just how fast this market is falling,” TREBB declared in a release. “Risk happens fast, but this is lightspeed.