On August 7, 2013, Urbanation released its Q2-2013 Quarterly Market Survey. Urbanation is the leading source on Toronto condo market information, and according to them, Q2 shows an improvement for the year.

Toronto’s Q2 sales numbers

In Q2-2013, there were 3,903 new condo units sold in Toronto. This is 18% lower than last year’s Q2. A difference this big may seem like bad news for the condo market, but Urbanation says that Q2-2013’s sales numbers are “in line” with the quantity of new units that opened. The number of new openings in Q2-2013 was roughly 1,000 lower than the typical Q2. The sales numbers are more comparable to Toronto’s historic average than Q1-2013.

Senior Vice President, Shaun Hildebrand, commented on the sales numbers:

“The market is regaining its footing coming out of an extremely volatile sales environment during the past two years. Developers have been cautious, but the success of some key projects this year and the solid performances of the resale and rental condo markets in the second quarter should improve confidence.”

Out of all the active projects in Toronto, meaning either in preconstruction or under construction, there are 19,394 unsold units as of Q2-2013. The majority of these unsold units (11,265) are in the preconstruction phase.

Toronto’s Q2 prices

The average index price went up 2.6% to $539 per square foot. The average unsold index price is the same as last year at $566 per square foot.

Hildebrand also commented on Toronto’s pricing in Q2-2013:

“Pricing at new projects has become more competitive, which will continue to attract more attention from buyers. Sales are expected to show further improvement in the second half, but the total for 2013 will be below recent benchmarks.”

What does it all mean?

There are fewer sales, but fewer new product, prices are rising at a healthy rate, and Urbanation expects the second half of 2013 to show further improvement with pricing becoming more competitive.

Overall, the Toronto condo market is making a gradual shift to a stable state. We are excited to see what the second half of 2013 holds for Toronto.