By: Danielle Kubes, Zoocasa

Condominiums showed strong, double-digit price growth in December 2017, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board, far out-pacing all other forms of Toronto housing.

Condos jumped 14.1 per cent to an average selling price of $532,700 from December 2016.

The most expensive form of housing, detached, on the other hand, saw a 2.8 per cent rise in the same time period to $1,250,235.

“It is interesting to note that home price growth in the second half of 2017 differed substantially depending on market segment.  The detached market segment – the most expensive on average – experienced the slowest pace of growth as many buyers looked to less expensive options.  Conversely, the condominium apartment segment experienced double-digit growth, as condos accounted for a growing share of transactions,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis in a press release.

December is usually a slow sales months, buyers and sellers alike more interested in the holidays, shopping and vacations than bundling up to go house-hunting.

Across 2017, however, condos stood out in an already-buoyant year for the housing market.

All properties in the 416 saw gains, up on average 12.6 per cent to $824,138 from 2016, but condos jumped a massive 23 per cent to $545, 826.

Meanwhile detached houses saw the slowest growth at only 13.4 per cent to $1,420,046.

Most of that growth happened in the first four months of the year before the Ontario Fair Housing Plan (FHP) in April cooled the market. Toronto, unlike the 905, still maintained fairly tight market conditions for the rest of the year.

Still, sales dropped in Toronto, just not as sharply as the rest of the GTA.

But condos proved the most resilient of all property types.

Buyers, potentially concerned about mortgage lending rules tightening on January 1st of this year, rushed to get into the market before stress-testing left them out permanently, and condos were likely the only type of property within reach.

Under these circumstances, condo sales still fell from 2016, but only slightly at 7.5 per cent. Far more dramatic was the plunge in detached house sales, at 23.3 per cent.

Check out the infographic below to draw your own conclusions:

Danielle Kubes is a content writer for Zoocasa.com, a leading real estate resource that combines online search tools and a full-service brokerage to empower Canadians to buy or sell their homes faster, easier and more successfully. Home buyers can browse Toronto real estate listings, to find  Toronto condos, or houses for sale in Toronto.

You may also be interested in: What You Need to Know Before Launching a Career in Real Estate

Writer: Danielle Kubes

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