The good times roll on for Toronto’s condo market… but for how long?

The hot market often blamed for a potential housing bubble has recorded record sales numbers once again, indicating that if said bubble exists it may only be getting bigger.

The hot market often blamed for a potential housing bubble has recorded record sales numbers once again, indicating that if said bubble exists it may only be getting bigger. 

“Sales this past summer reaffirm that the new condo market in Toronto is on track for one if its best years on record,” Shaun Hildebrand, senior vice president of Urbanation said in an official release. “There is still quite a bit of pent up demand that came out of the slowdown last year.

“Should market confidence continue to hold in spite of the recent turmoil in financial markets, this sales momentum will carry into the final months of 2014 and early 2015.”

4,753 new condos were sold in the third quarter of this year, marking a 53 per cent year-over-year increase from a 10-year low in 2013. It was the third best summer for the market, trailing only 2011 and 2007. The number of unsold units also dropped 11 per cent during the quarter to 16,743.

These impressive stats will surely dredge up the question about how much foreign investment is bolstering the market – a question the CMHC continues to wrestle with.

“CMHC continues to explore opportunities to enhance the availability of information on foreign and corporate investment activities in the housing market,” Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre said in a summer release.

For his part, one of Toronto’s most prolific developers, Brad Lamb, told the CBC in August that he estimates foreign investors make up about 50 per cent of the ownership of condos in Ontario’s capital city.

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Toronto’s condo construction is still booming