Average condo resale price tops $500K
Cost in Toronto, which accounts for 72 per cent of sales, was $566,513
The condo is continuing its ascent of the Toronto-area real estate market with the average price of resale apartments cracking the $500,000 barrier in the second quarter this year.
The average condo cost — $532,032 — was 28.1 per cent higher than the second quarter last year, according to a report from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) this week.
In Toronto, which accounted for 72 per cent of second-quarter condo sales, the average price was $566,513.
Prices climbed as sales dropped 8 per cent in the same period and the number of listings increased less than 1 per cent.
Their relative affordability makes condos attractive to many households, especially first-time buyers, TREB said.
While the Toronto area is a buyer’s market overall, sellers are still in the driver’s seat of the condo sector, said Gurpreet Thind, director of business development for Condos.ca.
Even with fewer sales of detached and semi-detached homes, prices for lowrise housing remain out of reach for many buyers, he said.
There are areas where condos will sit on the market for two or three weeks. But every week, there are stories among his fellow agents of competitive bids that raise prices over asking, Thind said.
Those properties tend to be in more desirable neighbourhoods or buildings. Liberty Village and King St. W. are popular, especially buildings with good layouts and premium touches such as gas stoves.
Two-bedroom units are sought after, Thind said.
“Size is king. The expectation is (the buyer) is probably staying longer. They won’t be able to afford a house. Whether they’re first-time buyers or moving up, they want to try and buy as much square footage as possible,” he said.
The TREB report showed that onebedroom and one-bedroom-plusden apartments accounted for half of all sales and two bedrooms, including two-bedroom-with-den units, comprised 46 per cent of transactions. The average price of a onebedroom-plus-den was about $450,000, about $200,000 less than a two-bedroom-plus-den unit.
TREB points out that the condo rental market is also highly competitive.
Rents on one- and two-bedroom apartments rose nearly 9 per cent but the number of lease transactions on the board’s Multiple Listings Service remained about the same as the second quarter of 2016.
“Average rents increased by much more than the rate of inflation,” said Jason Mercer, the board’s director of market analysis, in a news release. “Generally speaking, it has become harder to find a place to rent this year compared to last.”
The average one-bedroom condo rented for $1,861 a month and twobedroom apartments went for $2,533 between the beginning of April and the end of June.
Condos are also the leading new construction home product, representing 91 per cent of the new homes sold in June in the Toronto region, the Building Industry and Land Development Association reported on Tuesday.