Condo units now among hottest commodities in downtown Toronto

Amid the inflamed prices in the Toronto residential real estate market, a growing number of young families and professionals now tend to prefer condominium units over the city’s detached homes.

In a recent analysis, Geoffrey Grace of ReMax Hallmark Realty noted that the struggle for condo units in the downtown area—especially in the Queen and King Street West sectors—has led to feverish bidding wars involving as many as 17 competitors.

Particularly, detached homes above $500,000 have proven more difficult to get for first-time buyers in the wake of recent regulatory revisions involving mortgage insurance and financing.

“If you’re looking at a house, it’s going to be a rundown two-bedroom on a major street,” Grace told The Globe and Mail, adding that a condo worth $500,000 would come as a furnished and finished suite situated near the downtown area.

Helping the condo sector’s popularity is its relative attainability, with prices increasing by only 14.5 per cent year-over-year last month. Meanwhile, the average cost of a detached house rose by 26.3 per cent in January compared to the same time last year.

Fresh figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board revealed that condo resales have spiked up by a massive 26.7 per cent year-over-year in January, evenly divided between area codes 905 and 416. In the same time frame, detached home sales rose by only 7.8 per cent, mostly in the 905 (416 sales actually declined by 5.5 per cent).

MBN

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