What is the best month to buy or sell a home in the Greater Toronto Area?

Those looking to buy or sell a home in the Greater Toronto Area may want to consider findings from a new report.

Traditionally spring is thought to be the busiest season for selling, and experts have predicted an increase in prices in the first half of 2025 followed by more moderate increases in the latter half of the year.

So, spring might be a good time to sell, not to buy, but it could depend on where you live.

A new analysis from digital real estate platform Wahi reveals the top months for selling a home across the Greater Toronto Area.

Breaking down sales by month and location, Wahi’s latest study indicates when home-selling activity peaked last year in each of the GTA’s 340 neighbourhoods with at least five transactions.

Depending on the neighbourhood, the month with the highest sales ranged all the way from January to December, the study found.

“While spring and fall are typically the busiest time of year for home sales in general, Wahi’s latest study puts this into numbers and shows how much trends can vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood,” said Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen. “It also shows some interesting exceptions.”

An area in Markham, for example, was busiest in November and December. Bolton was very busy in February in 204.

Overall last year, April was the top month for home sales both when looking at the total number of homes changing hands (7,025) as well as the share of neighbourhoods that saw activity peak then.

Some 81 neighbourhoods (23 per cent) recorded the highest number of home sales in April, followed by May, which was busiest for 71 neighbourhoods (21 per cent) May also had the second-highest sales tally (6,897), down from 2023 (9,099) when it was the most active month.

October and March were the only other two months last year when sales highs were reached in 50-plus neighbourhoods. For 56 neighbourhoods (16 per cent), October was the leading month for activity, while for 55 (16 per cent) it was March.

Wahi noted that the month with the most home sales for a neighbourhood isn’t necessarily the best month to list as a variety of factors determine how fast a home sells. These include list price, overall real estate market conditions, interest rates, and the characteristics of a property, to name a few. Plus a neighbourhood with high home sales in a given month in 2024 won’t necessarily see the same trend this year, Wahi said.