It's no secret that home sales have been tanking across the Greater Toronto Area since interest rates started spiking through the roof in Canada last year, even despite moderate price declines.

With sales down down 38.2 per cent for the GTA in 2022 (nearly 50 per cent in December alone,) Toronto's real estate market has definitely cooled off since the overheated days of 2021 — but not all markets in Ontario have been equally impacted.

Real estate brokerage and analysis firm Zoocasa recently looked into which parts of the region are still competitive for Ontario buyers and sellers (more competitive, at least, than the 416 itself) amid this recent downturn, and found some striking anomalies.

Specifically, the firm's latest report shows that homes are spending more days on the market in Toronto than they are in the majority of markets outside the city, within the boundaries of the province.

"The rate at which properties are trading hands has slowed in Ontario due to buyer apprehension in the market. Lack of inventory and the need for more affordable have contributed to the market slowness," reads the report published by Zoocasa last week.

"In December, many homes in Ontario stayed on the market for longer than usual. In the Toronto Region, homes are currently listed for an average of 40 days, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB). This was a big stretch from the pandemic when homes seemed to sell practically overnight."

The agency says that, while it has become "increasingly difficult for sellers and potential buyers to navigate the shifting landscape of real estate markets across Ontario," there's good news in store — for some parts of the region where homes remain in demand and have been moving more quickly than average.

Below, you'll find a nifty infographic showing which 12 of 22 Ontario markets had homes listed for shorter amounts of time, on average, than Toronto did last month.

Waterloo Region tops the pack with homes being sold after only 25 days of listing, on average, compared to Toronto's average of 40 days (up 110.5 per year, year over year, over the same time period one year previous, when homes were only on the market in the 6ix for an average of 19 days.)

Aurora came in second with an average of 26 days on the market, followed by London and Whitby, which both had an average days-on-the-market figure of 28.

Caledon, Orangeville, Vaughan and Milton all lagged at the other end of the spectrum, with homes spending between 47 and 60 days on the market between them.
 

"Overall, homes within York Region are on the market three days less than the Toronto Region average," notes the Zoocasa report.

"Whether buyers are interested in Aurora's great family neighbourhoods or Markham's 19th-century homes, properties are selling 14 and 11 days faster than the average, respectively. Homes within Newmarket are only spending 31 days on the market, and Richmond Hill's inventory is moving within 35 days."

Properties in Halton and Peel are less in demand, however — for now — which might not be a terrible thing for people looking to buy in that part of the region.