Who Will Blink First, Toronto’s Homebuyers Or Home Sellers?

The article discusses the state of Toronto's housing market and whether homebuyers or sellers will "blink first." While there has been a decline in Toronto's house prices since the start of the year, the decline has not been as steep as many observers had expected. The reason for this is the fact that the decline in home sales was matched by the decline in new listings of homes for sale, keeping the market in a balanced position. However, small gradual increases in sales-to-new-listings ratio have happened, and the sales-to-new-listings ratio hovered around a balanced 50% range in the August–October period. It appears that buyers and sellers in the Toronto housing market are engaged in a market game where each group has temporarily put their respective buy/sell plans on hold. With the prospect of a recession and rising unemployment in the near future, potential homebuyers could more easily postpone their decisions to enter the market than home sellers. This is bound to put further downward pressure on prices in the coming months.