toronto condo

Toronto condo sales are rebounding hard so far in 2021

Ever since December, condo sales in Toronto have been booming, making up for the quick stint of being somewhat more affordable and in greater supply earlier in 2020.

And nothing shows just how much sales volumes and prices of units have picked up quite like the Q1 2021 numbers released this week by the industry experts at Urbanation.

According to the firm's data, the number of condominum properties changing hands in the first three months of this year almost matched pre-pandemic numbers, with 5,385 units sold — only 4 per cent fewer than in the first quarter of 2020.

Another development is the fact that interest in the city proper has piqued once more after what felt like a mass exodus of people seeking more space for cheaper in the surrounding GTA suburbs and beyond, causing a surge of activity and prices in some nearby regions.

New condos in particular have been popular, with a whopping 2.5 times more units sold pre-sale from January to March (a total of 2,886) than in the final three quarters of last year, on average.

Sales of these types of properties were also even higher than in the same time period of 2020, before the health crisis really took hold in Canada.

The resale market also broke records, increasing by an entire 74 per cent year-over-year as far as number of transactions.

There has also been 11 per cent less unsold condo inventory in the city and across the GTA so far this year compared to the same time last year, as well as compared to the previous 10 quarters dating back to 2019 — meaning that the COVID-19 fears and trends that led to the cooler market last fall seem to be shifting.

Other sources have likewise cited strong new condo sales that have even outpaced new single-family home sales, while those who bought pre-construction and are now selling are now getting better returns on their investments than those reselling older units.

This is a big change from last fall, when new condo sales were dragging down market stats, bringing home sales overall in Toronto in October 2020 down a staggering 44 per cent from October 2019.

But, these new numbers do only take January, February and March into account, and it looks like as of April, the tides have begun to change once more, in part thanks to fatigue from those who were looking to nab a condo in such a competitive and high-risk market.

Experts do not expect the bidding wars, sales for hundreds of thousands over asking, and record-breaking numbers to persist through the rest of the year, but in Toronto's frantic market, who can really know for certain?

Lead photo by

Strata


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