Toronto’s Condo Market on the Rebound

Last fall, there was a lot of talk about how the pandemic was affecting Canada’s largest urban condo market.

Many Torontonians were leaving the city to find more space in the suburbs and take advantage of work-from-home arrangements—arrangements that many expect to outlast the pandemic. As a result, singles, semis and towns in smaller and medium-sized markets across the GTA and beyond heated up.

But the condo market—with a surplus of supply and urban attractions across the city shuttered—cooled down significantly.

Now, only a few months later, it’s rebounded. “It’s to the point where you can’t even get a booking because everybody is showing the (same) condos,” Davelle Morrison, a broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., told the National Post.

According to another real estate broker, John Pasalis, “people who are thinking they are just going to go in and buy something for $30,000 under asking are going to be really surprised. That’s not the market today; that was the market in October.”

Surveys suggested that many prospective homeowners were putting off buying a home because they expected the pandemic to lead to further decreases in home value across the GTA. But as brokers like Pasalis understand all too well, no-one can time the market.

According to data reported by BlogTO, in February 2021 new condos actually outsold singles, semis and towns in Toronto.

“All of a sudden there was an incredible urgency on the ground from home buyers and investors wanting to buy a condo,” Pasalis wrote for Move Smartly in a comprehensive look at how the condo market was affected by the pandemic. “For all of 2019 and the first month of 2020, roughly 30% of condo units were selling for above the seller’s asking price. In February 2020, that ratio went up to 57% and by March it peaked at 64%.”

It’s hard to predict the future of this trend, given the rollercoaster over the last year, but Pasalis estimates that with interest rates remaining at historic lows for the next year, demand will continue unabated. The Toronto condo market could very well stay hot.

But others aren’t so sure. A housing market correction in Toronto has been the perennial subject of much speculation, and regulators now suggest the risk of such a correction is high.

We know how intimidating all this can be if you’re trying to buy or sell your home. The experts at Spectrum Realty can help you navigate the ups and downs of the market to ensure you buy or sell at the best possible price. Contact us to find out how we can help you.