TORONTO – August 3, 2010…Urbanation, Inc., the leading source of information and analysis on the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area – CMA – condominium market, today released its Q2/10 market overview.
New condominium sales of 4,991 in Q2/10 represent a decline of eight per cent from the 5,415 sold in Q1/10, and for the first time since 1994, second quarter sales declined from the first quarter. Despite the quarter-over-quarter decrease, sales during the past four quarters were near record highs.
“21,318 new condominiums sold. That’s slightly fewer than the dizzy heights achieved during late 2007/early 2008,” said Ben Myers, Urbanation Editor and Executive Vice President.
“When we consider the rapid sales pace of the six months prior to Q2/10, the new sales market is softening,” Myers said. “Expect a slightly slower sales pace for the remaining two quarters of 2010. An annual sales volume of 16,000 to 17,000 appears to be sustainable for the Toronto CMA.”
At the end of Q2/10, the 12,638 unsold units in the CMA were being offered at $529 psf, a 12 per cent annual increase. In the former City of Toronto, unsold units averaged $639 psf.
As the new market shows signs of slowing, the existing condominium market remains very strong. The resale market set a quarterly record of 5,076 sales in Q2/10 – besting the previous high of 4,854 set in Q3/09.
The record represents an 18 per cent increase over Q1/10 (4,290 resales) and five per cent over the same quarter in 2009 (4,853 resales).
“While second quarter results are typically strong, these figures are encouraging for the tone of the overall resale market, and especially for buyers, considering the average time on market has increased – from 22 days in Q1/10 to 25 days in Q2/10, and quarterly CMA price growth was minimal – from $369 psf in Q1/10 to $370 psf in Q2/10,” added Myers.
A flush resale supply coming into Q2/10 — at a record high 10,997 listings in Q1/10 — kept resale pricing in check, with the average resale end-selling price rising less than one per cent this quarter to $331,000. Many of these resale listings were absorbed during the quarter, bringing the number of resale listings down to 8,714 units, which allowed the strong demand during the spring months to be met without further impacting affordability due to rising resale prices.
With almost 6,000 occupied and not yet registered units in the CMA at the end of Q2/10, and the potential for as many as 12,000 completions over the remaining quarters of 2010, it’s possible the addition of that many units to the market will force resale prices to remain relatively flat.