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Where is the Toronto Condo Market Heading?

I attended a very informative and interesting seminar last night at the Market Wharf sales office. The event was put on by Context (the developer behind Market Wharf, Spire, Radio City) and was billed as a ‘Buying a Condo Seminar’. It was open to anyone who is on Context’s marketing email list. Normally I avoid events like these like the plague because they are blatant bait-and-switch sales events designed to lure uneducated consumers into buying a condo at a development they know nothing about. However, this one offered something different and I’m glad I attended.

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July Statistics for New Condo Sales

When it comes to real estate statistics, I always take everything with a grain of salt. Fact is, most real estate statistics are compiled and released for general media consumption by the real estate industry: Real Estate Boards, CMHC, Real Estate Marketing companies, Realtors, Lenders, etc. They have a vested interest in a robust housing market. Inevitably this bias will shine through.

I was just reading through the latest numbers from BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) and if you just read the headline from the press release, you might conclude that everything is rosy in the new homes and condominium market in Toronto.

The headline reads: “Condo Sales Reach New Heights in July”. Now this can be interpreted in several ways and ‘New heights’ could mean just about anything. In this case it is referring to the fact that new home sales in the high-rise category (i.e. condos) were the highest for the month of July when compared to any other month so far this year. However, looking closer at the numbers clearly shows that the sales figures for July for new condo sales are actually down about 21% compared to July of 2007. Overall, new condo sales in the GTA are down about 22% for the YTD for 2008 when compared with 2007.

Also interesting from this press release is that condos appear to be taking up a greater and greater share of the overall market for new homes in the GTA. The reason given is land that land is becoming scarce. Builders are building up rather than out.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment.

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