People in Toronto are selling their condominiums in record numbers and fleeing to the suburbs.
Active listings of condos in downtown Toronto hit a record at the end of September and were 215% higher than a year earlier, according to Urbanation data. That compares with a 5.3% rise in total housing listings across the city during September, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).
Toronto’s housing market is beginning to show signs of strain, particularly in a condo segment suddenly flooded with 'for sale' signs. September data from TRREB and Urbanation show a surge of condo units for sale, the beginning of a weakening trend for condos, along with a sharp decline in rents.
The condo sales come even as there is a boom in single-family homes in Canada’s largest city.
Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area surged 42.3% year-over-year last month, taking activity to a new all-time high for September.
Meanwhile, the average selling price reached $960,772, setting a record for a fourth consecutive month.
Across the Toronto region, owners listed 6,480 condos for sale in September, up from 5,599 in August and 3,403 in the same month a year earlier, TRREB reported. With sales not keeping up, benchmark prices fell for a second straight month and are down 1.8% since May, even as values for detached homes have surged over that time.
