While bidding wars were commonplace across the Toronto region’s red hot detached home market, the condo market sputtered through October.
The divergence between the two major market segments was wide enough that RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue called it “a tale of two markets.”
In commentary published this week following the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) October home sales and price data release, Hogue pointed out that detached homes have seen active listings fall by 30 percent while sales rose 34 percent over the previous year in October.
This stood in stark contrast to the condo market in Toronto-proper, where sales fell 8.5 percent and active listings surged 173 percent.
The disconnect between supply and demand caused condo prices to fall on a month-to-month basis, according to Hogue. October saw condo prices in Toronto-proper, also known as the ‘416’, only rise 0.8 percent on an annual basis as well.
Condo supply is rising rapidly in most major Canadian markets. Owners are looking to offload units with listing activity particularly high in urban cores, said Hogue.
But when it comes to condo sales, activity in markets across the country is less uniform. The RBC economist pointed out that Ottawa and Montreal saw brisk condo sales in October, with prices also pushing higher.
Vancouver condo buyers were more energized than their Toronto counterparts too. Condo sales in the west coast city rose 13 percent, though prices stayed flat on a month-over-month basis.
Going forward, Hogue believes the diverging trend between detached home and condo market activity will continue in the near term across the country.
