Buying and Selling Condos in Toronto’s Lucrative Condominium Market
TORONTO, ONTARIO, October 16, 2019 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael
Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 6,407 condominium
apartment sales through TREB’s MLS® System in the third quarter of 2019. This result
was up by 11.1 per cent compared to Q3 2018.
New condominium apartment listings entered into TREB’s MLS® System were down by
one per cent compared to Q3 2018, with 9,538 listings added in 2019 compared to 9,636
listings added in 2018.
“As economic conditions continue to be favourable for job growth in the Greater Toronto
Area, people have continued to come to the city for work. Home ownership is important to
many Canadians, and, as a relatively affordable housing option, condos in the GTA offer
prospective buyers the chance to achieve their dreams of owning property,” said Mr.
Collins.
The average price of a condominium apartment increased by 5.8 per cent from $552,766
in Q3 2018 to $584,564 in Q3 2019. Year-over-year price growth in the City of Toronto,
which accounted for nearly 70 per cent of transactions, was slightly lower at 5.6 per cent,
resulting in an average price of $628,074.
Strong price growth above the rate of inflation was driven by tightening market conditions,
with sales up and listings down relative to last year. One factor underpinning the dip in
listings may be the fact that, according to CMHC data, new condominium apartment
completions were down year-to-date through August relative to the same time frame in
2018. This may have translated into fewer investor-owned units being listed for sale in Q3
2019 compared to Q3 2018.
“Condominium apartments are obviously a popular choice amongst first-time homebuyers. Moreover, it is also important to remember that condominium apartments owned
by investors represent a huge component of the GTA rental stock and certainly account
for most additions to the rental stock, on net, over the past decade. With this in mind, a
well-supplied condo segment will be important moving forward to ensure that we can keep
up with population growth driven by a strong and diverse regional economy,” said Jason
Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.