Toronto condo prices continue to soar higher

The market for detached homes in Toronto is practically frosty right now – but you wouldn't know it by looking at overall housing figures, thanks in large part to condos.

Both sales and prices of condominiums continue to rise as we approach what realtors say is "peak home buying season," according to BMO. 

This is helping to buoy a market that has cooled off significantly, year over year, on account of government measures like Ontario's foreign buyer tax and changes to federal mortgage lending guidelines.

Sales of new homes alone were down 58 per cent in Toronto last year, with luxury properties and single-family detached homes showing similar declines over the same period.

The prices on houses have been dropping too, in some parts of the city, but not so much that everyone is running out to buy one.

Instead, a lot of people – particularly young people – are buying condos and townhouses, which still cost less than detached homes, even as demand soars.

"The perennially hot markets of Toronto and Vancouver are largely driven by the impact of millennial home buyers creating price increases in the condo and townhouse markets," reads BMO's Spring Housing Affordability Report, which was released today.

"Millennial buyers and international migrants are cushioning the decline in detached home prices in the hottest markets," said BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri in the report, "as those looking for better affordability consider options beyond Toronto and Vancouver."

New condos are popping up all over Toronto, all the time, but the bank still predicts that a lack of supply in this crucial market will impact prices throughout the year.

For this, we can blame millennials (it's okay, we're used to it) – or, as the bank suggests we can credit this supply crunch to "lengthy building approval processes and zoning restrictions."