Brokers in this one major market may have noticed a decline in clients seeking mortgage for condos – and that trend may continue with fewer starts being reported as well.
Condo sales, new openings and unsold inventory levels all dropped in the first quarter of 2015 according to Urbanation.
“Underlying market conditions for new and resale condos have tightened considerably, which should quell concerns of over-building” said Shaun Hildebrand, Urbanation’s Senior Vice President in an official release. “Record levels of completions are being offset by a very limited turnover of units listed for resale and a reduced number of new condo project openings, supporting a steady level of price appreciation.”
A total of 4,432 new condos were sold across the GTA in Q1 of this year, down 10 per cent year-over-year. There was also a 22 per cent decline in condos brought to market.
“Steady absorption of units in existing projects brought the level of unsold inventory in active development down by 10 per cent from a year ago to a total of 17,488 units,” the report states. “Pre-construction unsold inventory fell by 16 per cent to 8,781 units, while the total number of units under construction that are unsold declined by 9 per cent to 7,059 units (out of 51,289).”
Still, there were 21,000 condo completions in the past 12 months, which raised the number of developer-owned units to 1,648, representing a 49 per cent increase.
As for prices, gains were moderate.
“The index for average selling prices for new condos grew by 2 per cent year-over-year to $562 psf in the first quarter,” the report states. “Resale price growth accelerated to 5 per cent to an average of $431 psf ($386,000 for an average unit size of 894 sf).”
“Underlying market conditions for new and resale condos have tightened considerably, which should quell concerns of over-building” said Shaun Hildebrand, Urbanation’s Senior Vice President in an official release. “Record levels of completions are being offset by a very limited turnover of units listed for resale and a reduced number of new condo project openings, supporting a steady level of price appreciation.”
A total of 4,432 new condos were sold across the GTA in Q1 of this year, down 10 per cent year-over-year. There was also a 22 per cent decline in condos brought to market.
“Steady absorption of units in existing projects brought the level of unsold inventory in active development down by 10 per cent from a year ago to a total of 17,488 units,” the report states. “Pre-construction unsold inventory fell by 16 per cent to 8,781 units, while the total number of units under construction that are unsold declined by 9 per cent to 7,059 units (out of 51,289).”
Still, there were 21,000 condo completions in the past 12 months, which raised the number of developer-owned units to 1,648, representing a 49 per cent increase.
As for prices, gains were moderate.
“The index for average selling prices for new condos grew by 2 per cent year-over-year to $562 psf in the first quarter,” the report states. “Resale price growth accelerated to 5 per cent to an average of $431 psf ($386,000 for an average unit size of 894 sf).”
