October 18, 2018 — Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that the average selling price for condominium apartments reported sold by Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® through TREB’s MLS ® System in the third quarter of 2018 was up by 8.4 per cent year-over-year to $552,269. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Apartment Benchmark Price was up by 10.1 per cent year-over-year to $506,300 in September 2018.
The highest average condominium apartment selling price was in the City of Toronto, at $594,039. This result was up 9.7% compared to Q3 2017. The MLS® HPI Apartment Benchmark Price for the City of Toronto was up by 11.5 per cent year-over-year to $535,600 in September 2018.
“Condominium apartments represent a relatively affordable home ownership option in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly for first-time buyers. Looking forward, strong demand for condo apartments should continue as people move to the GTA to take advantage of quality job opportunities, including those jobs associated with recent investment announcements from wellknown tech companies,” said Mr. Bhaura.
Total condominium apartment sales reported through TREB’s MLS® System amounted to 5,781 in Q3 2018 – up two per cent from 5,667 sales reported in Q3 2017. Conversely the number of new listings was down 2.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis. The combination of increasing sales and decreasing new listings year-over-year points to tighter market conditions, supporting the current strong annual rates of price growth.
“Recent survey results from Ipsos revealed that the vast majority of young people in the GTA are concerned about home ownership. Nearly 92% of respondents agreed that the goal of home ownership is becoming more difficult for younger people in the city. With these insights in mind, it makes sense that relatively more affordable home ownership alternatives like condo apartments have been very popular with home buyers over the past year,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.