Buyers moving back into urban condo market

March 28, 2022


Photo credit: Concord, Toronto

Homebuyers are increasingly heading back into the urban condo market—reversing a trend seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While overall housing sales were down 8 per cent in February 2022 from February 2021, condo apartment transactions increased, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Greater Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Hamilton-Burlington all saw condo sales jump both year-to-year and month-to-month.
Though the Greater Toronto Area saw a modest year-over-year decline in total transactions, condo unit sales jumped 38 per cent month-to-month.
Real estate agent Tom Storey with Royal LePage in Toronto told Global News he hadn’t seen demand for condos this high since 2017, and that the first few months of the year have aligned with his assessment that 2022 could be the “year of the condo.”
The onset of the pandemic in 2020 saw many condo dwellers leave the city in search of more space and affordable real estate as work-from-home lifestyles became the norm for white-collar jobs.
Rob Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the condo market, while never reversing in value, saw growth “stagnate” compared to single- and semi-detached property classes over much of the pandemic.
He said the past six to 12 months have seen activity picking back up, however, especially in areas such as Toronto and Vancouver.
“There is a shift in demand back into the big cities,” said Kavcic.