Survey: 56 more condos so far in '08
May 24, 2008With more buyers opting for condos in favour of single-detached homes, Toronto's condo market continues to perform extremely well.
With 17 new condominium projects already launched in the first quarter, data from a survey by Urbanation, which monitors the condo market's performance, shows divergence between low-rise and high-rise real estate markets, with the high-rise condo market retaining strength in pricing per square foot and volume of units sold.
The hottest area for new condominium construction and sales continues to be the former City of Toronto, representing 50% of the GTA's condo development activity.
The average new condominium index price for the greater Toronto area in the first quarter, defined by price per square foot, enjoyed its 13th consecutive quarterly increase, up 11.4% in the first quarter, compared with the same time frame last year ($388 per square foot versus $348 per square foot). Resale unit pricing was up 8.3% from last year.
An expected rise in unit completions should enable an increase in new unit construction starts in 2008. An indication of this is that construction began on 4,546 new condo units in the greater Toronto area in the first quarter, setting the second-highest level of new starts for the first quarter since the first quarter in 1998, and 233% higher than the first quarter 2007 new start total.
However, resales of condominiums in Toronto were down slightly in the first quarter, compared with the first quarter last year, by 187 units, or 6%.
New condominium sales in the first quarter numbered 3,433; only eight units fewer than the same time frame last year.
A total of 277 new condo-minium projects were tracked in the first quarter of 2008, 56 more than last year. This means that the 3,433 first-quarter sales were spread over 25% more buildings than in the first quarter last year. Aura, at College Park, represented 21% of first-quarter new sales.