After cooling down in 2013, market for new units is booming

CBC News

Toronto’s condo market is showing no signs of slowing down, with new condo sales at 2,588 units in June, up 94% from a year earlier.

Comment: Wow… this year is nuts for condo sales. Mind you, last year was slower, as developers took a year off and launched few new projects. Fewer new condos for sale means fewer new condos sold. Lots more happening this year!

Condo sales were 19% higher than the 10-year average, according to RealNet Canada, but prices were up just 1.5% on the year, a reflection of the abundant supply of new buildings.

Comment: And note that 1.5% is lower than July’s 2.4% rate of inflation.

RealNet reports there are 21,561 condo units still for sale in the Toronto area, including 12,553 in buildings not yet started and 7,381 under construction.

The benchmark condo price – which is the average price, after the highest and lowest extremes are stripped out – is now $436,876. Price per square foot was about $541 in June, down from $549 in May.

Comment: All pretty bland numbers, to be honest.

June was an exceptional month for real estate sales across Canada, with the strongest sales in four years, a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed last week. After a cold winter that discouraged buyers and sellers, there was a flood of new supply on the market, luring home buyers back to the market.

Comment: Finally, more listings in a month! And sales went through the roof, as I said. Some claimed that more listings would push prices down. Nope!

RealNet, which measures markets for new houses and condos, says new home sales were also strong with 6.6% more sold this year than a year earlier.

For the first six months of the year, there were 9,564 sales of new detached houses in Toronto, a 59% increase on the previous year.

In the same period there were 10,989 new condos sold, up 45% from 2013. The hottest year for condo sales was 2011, when abundant supply and low rates created a booming market with more than 14,000 sold.

Comment: But there were likely more for sale as well, which would have been the main reason.

This year’s sales are roughly equivalent to 2012 and appear to be recovering from a sharp drop in 2013, when mortgage rules were changed in an attempt to cool hot housing markets.

Comment: Say what know? Mortgage rules were NOT changed last year. In 2012 I think you mean.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.
He did not write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who
are interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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