Bargain hunting buyers caused condo sales to soar in December: RBC

Condo sales soared across the Toronto region in December, and as one economist wrote, it looked like buyers were out “in full force looking for bargains.”

While roaring detached home sales and skyrocketing prices have stolen the lion’s share of the headlines in recent months, it now appears that condos are mounting a comeback, at least when it comes to sales activity.

After the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) released its December sales and pricing data earlier this week, RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue wrote that condo sales caught his attention.

He acknowledged that the challenging rental market is still pushing investors to offload their units, causing condo supply to surge and prices to continue to post only modest gains in suburban communities and fall by nearly five percent in Toronto-proper.

That said, Hogue observed that sales spiked 75 percent across the Toronto region, with similar strength seen in both city and suburban markets as “softer condo prices are now drawing more buyers in.”

In 2021, the economist is predicting that condos’ affordability advantage over detached homes will allow demand to pick up even more steam.

Of the four distinct property types tracked by TRREB, only townhouse sales in the region’s 905 area posted higher annual percentage gains than condos.

In terms of overall sales volume, detached homes still significantly outsold condos across the region, but the gap between the two property types narrowed. In November, detached homes outsold condos by 2,190 units at the regional level. By December, the gap had narrowed to 845 units separating detached homes and condos.

It’s also worth noting that Toronto region condos were the only property type to post a monthly sales increase in December. Detached, semi-detached and townhouses all saw activity decline from November to December.