Toronto may be known as one of the most overpriced cities in the world for housing and full of competition between those vying to own a place of their own, but a drastic decline in market activity over recent months has changed the narrative,.

With a glut of homes continuing to hit the market and leading to an astounding 83.3 per cent more active listings than this time last year according to the latest figures from May, buyers who can deal with the serious lack of affordability in the region have more options to choose from, and less pressure as they shop around.

Bidding wars, once a common phenomenon, are becoming less so as a result, with a growing number of would-be homeowners simply and confidently offering less than asking price.

Per a new report on over- and under-bidding in the market from real estate platform Wahi, fewer and fewer parts of the GTA are falling into "over-bidding" territory — the number has fallen from 43 per cent of neighbourhoods in March to 39 per cent in April, and 36 per cent in May. This time last year, it was a whopping 68 per cent.

Condos are the most likely to be purchased for less than the asking price nowadays, with the experts calling it "a tale of two markets," with more than half of the region’s neighbourhoods still technically being overbid when looking at houses alone.

But far, far less competition for condos has been bringing these stats down.

Hardly anyone is building or buying condos in Toronto anymore as market flops https://t.co/ydx9ktAelE

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 23, 2024

"The single-family market, which includes detached and semi-detached dwellings, as well as row and townhouses, still hovered in overbidding territory overall. Wahi found a slight majority (53 per cent) of neighbourhoods were overbid, a decline from 58 per cent during the month prior," the firm writes.

"For condos, just 11 per cent of the neighbourhoods Wahi analyzed were selling over-asking. This trend of more widespread overbidding on houses than condos began in February and the dynamic has not changed significantly."

The areas where buyers are most likely to underbid homes are Southwest Oakville, where offers are coming in at an average of $149,000 below asking prices, followed by King ($99,900 below, on average), Eastlake in Oakville ($99,000 under), Hogg's Hollow in North York ($85,000) and Old Oakville ($73,500).

On the flip side, the neighbourhoods where overbidding is still the strongest are Markham, where people are offering an average of $206,000 more than asking, followed by East York ($201,600 more), Bayview Hill in Richmond Hill and Catchet in Markham (both $197,000 more), and Bickford Park in Old Toronto ($188,050 more).

Wahi notes that "when a neighbourhood is in overbidding territory, it doesn't necessarily mean that every home is selling above-asking," but that the term instead reflects "overall market behaviour."

Across the GTA, 180 communities were deemed in underbidding territory, while only 110 were considered overbidding.