The Toronto condo market was expecting a big surge of buyers last month, and that they got. Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) data shows sales made a double digit jump in September. Despite the big rise in sales, prices made the second smallest monthly increase of the year.
Toronto Condo Prices Make Smallest Increase Since January
Greater Toronto condo apartment prices are up a lot, but lost a little steam last month. TREB reported a condo benchmark of $546,900 in September, up 8.00% from a year before. In the City of Toronto. it hit $578,000, up 7.90% over the same period. The increases are large, but most of the gains were from the summer. The monthly increase last month was actually the smallest since January.
Toronto Benchmark Condo Price
The price of a “typical” condo apartment in Toronto.
Source: CREA, Better Dwelling.
The rate of growth is now seeing the suburbs grow faster than the City. TREB’s 12-month rate of growth continued to increase into September. The City of Toronto benchmark saw the 12-month growth fall for a second month. Condo apartment prices in the suburbs are now growing faster than in the city.
Toronto Benchmark Condo Price Change
The annual percent change of price, for a “typical” condo apartment in Toronto.
Source: CREA, Better Dwelling.
The median sale price for condo apartments showed more modest increases. TREB reported a benchmark price of $528,000 in September, up 6.66% from the year before. The City of Toronto median sale price reached $572,250, up 6.15% over the same period. Across TREB, over half of units sold 3.45% below their benchmark price. In the City it was much closer, with half of units selling just 0.99% from the benchmark.
Toronto Median Condo Sale Price
The median sale price of a condo apartment in Toronto.
Source: CREA, Better Dwelling.
The average sale price showed the lowest increase of any price metric. TREB reported an average sale price of $595,013 in September, up 4.2% from the same month last year. In the City of Toronto, it hit $636,817, up 3.3% from last year. The average isn’t adjusted for size or quality. This number is best used for understanding dollar volumes.
Toronto Average Condo Sale Price
The average sale price of condo apartments in Toronto, and the suburbs.
Source: CREA, Better Dwelling.
Greater Toronto Condo Sales Rise Over 15%
Condo sales made a big jump higher, even compared to historic numbers for the month. There were 2,071 condo apartment sales across TREB in September, up 15.9% from last year. The City of Toronto represents 1,450 of those sales, up 13.5% over the same period. The number of sales is 4.81% higher than the 5-year median number of sales for September. The rise in sales were expected due to the first-time homebuyer program rolling out.
Toronto Condo September Sales
The number of condo apartments sold in the month of September, by year.
Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.
Toronto Condo Inventory Drops Over 13%
The number new listings for condo apartments made a mild bump higher. TREB reported 3,403 new listings in September, up 3.18% from last year. The City of Toronto represents 2,441 of the new listings, up 4.00% from last year. The increase in listings was lower than the rise in sales, so this hacked away at total inventory.
Toronto Condo Sales Vs. New Listings
The number of condo sales, vs newly listed condos across Greater Toronto.
Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.
Total inventory, or active listings, made a substantial decline from last year. TREB reported 3,327 active listings in September, down 13.47% from last year. The City of Toronto represented 2,319 of the active listings, down 8.23% from last year. Both made large declines in a month that’s not normally that busy. However, the City of Toronto saw inventory fall at a slower pace than the burbs.
Toronto Active Condo Listings
The number of condo listings available for sale in Toronto.
Source: TREB, Better Dwelling.
The condo apartment market saw higher sales, and lower inventory last month. Higher sales were expected, as it was the first month with a new government buyer program. The fall in inventory was fairly sharp, which led to a much tighter market than the month before. Interestingly, prices only made a small increase for the month, considering tighter inventory.
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FYI, until the month takes out the 2016 sales number, it’s still trending lower. The minor bump higher is called a “walk.”
Unless it breaks the upper bound, it’ll move up and down, but the overall direction is set by the peak.
BTW, do we have numbers for the first-time buyer program?
Probably won’t get numbers for this for a few months. Mortgage brokers have been stating it’s not that popular in Toronto. A lot of people asking, but not using. Difference is negligible for most people’s finances.
Anyone else think partnering up with the government to buy a house or condo is a bad idea? Do the have a program like this for commercial properties?
Bad idea. The government gets a percentage of the property value, including the increased value, but doesn’t pay any of the ownership costs, nice deal for the government.
I live in Scarberia and higher condo towers are currently being constructed across Eglinton Ave, Lawrence and Sheppard Ave corridors from Vic Park to the Twin Rivers Drive/Port Union area.
Even the low income Wexford area has seen apartment prices rise by over 50% in the past five years, and at Dorset Park where there are a lot of South Asians and Caribbeans, condo towers are growing there like weeds.