Despite fears that the condo market is oversaturated and prices are bound to fizzle, homebuyers flocked the market in droves, pushing the number of sales in the GTA to eclipse the prior year’s.
Despite fears that the condo market is oversaturated and prices are bound to fizzle, homebuyers flocked the market in droves, pushing the number of sales in the GTA to eclipse the prior year’s.
“I absolutely believe millennials will continue to purchase condos,” Jake Abramowicz of Mortgage Edge told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “They are starting to put aside the idea of having kids and continuing to live independently in places like Queen St, Liberty Village, College St.”
According to a release by the Toronto Real Estate Board, condo sales have spiked 19.5 in the City of Toronto.
“Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,307 condominium apartment transactions through the TorontoMLS system in the third quarter of 2013, the Toronto Real Estate Board said in a statement. “This result was up by 18 per cent in comparison to 4,498 condominium apartment sales reported for the third quarter of 2012. In the City of Toronto, which accounted for 72 per cent of condominium apartment transactions, sales were up by 19.5 per cent.”
The average condo price in the GTA spike two per cent in the third quarter 2013 over prior year, reaching $340,060. The Toronto Real Estate Board agress that sales were driven by millenials.
“The Echo Generation wants to live close to where they work and play (and) it makes sense that they have turned to condominium apartments as they have moved into home ownership,” Dianne Usher, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board said. “Many condominium apartments in the GTA are characterized by their proximity to a diversity of employment, transportation and leisure alternatives.”
As for Abramowicz’s experience, a large portion of these first time buyers are female.
“A lot of my customers are women because, and I don’t mean to generalize, they tend to have stronger applications because they are showing less debt, better savings,” he said. “A lot of people are postponing their family plans because they are enjoying the independent life and making good money”
“A lot of these people don’t even consider buying a house for two reasons: They don’t need it and they can’t afford it without a second income.”
