The average price of condominium units has jumped significantly during the past year in many Ontario cities, new data from RE/MAX reveals. A just-released Spring 2017 overview of 23 markets across Canada shows an upward trend in British Columbia and Ontario with modest declines in Alberta and Atlantic Canada.
The most dramatic increases have been registered in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding centres of Barrie, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo. The greatest year-over-year surge also positions the GTA city of Oakville as the most expensive condo market among those surveyed — as the average price rose 38 per cent, from $437,837 in the spring of 2016 to $606,169 this year.
Other GTA markets experienced average price jumps ranging from 28 per cent in Mississauga to 35 per cent in Brampton. Kitchener-Waterloo, where condo prices rose by 21 per cent, is the only market in the GTA or surrounding vicinities where the average price remains below $300,000.
Price gains have been more restrained in cities more distant from Toronto, such as Ottawa, where the average price has risen by 7 per cent, and Windsor, where the average price is up 5 per cent. Windsor likewise offers the most affordable stock among the 12 reported Ontario markets, with an average price of $189,476.
Looking west, the neighbouring provinces of B.C. and Alberta present differing pictures. The average condo price increased by 9 per cent in Greater Vancouver, making it the second priciest surveyed market after Oakville, with an average price of $592,784. However, price climbs were even steeper in the Fraser Valley (17 per cent) Victoria and Kelowna (both 18 per cent).
Slight dips of 1 per cent in Edmonton and 1.5 per cent in Calgary reduced the average price in those cities to $240,131 and $292,354 respectively. Elsewhere on the prairies, the average price in Winnipeg rose 8% to hit an average of $244,406.
Average condo prices in Halifax have fallen 8 per cent since last year to rest at $233,824. That’s the biggest drop in percentage terms among four surveyed Atlantic markets, but Saint John, New Brunswick, recorded the lowest average price by a sizeable margin among all surveyed markets, at $96,843.
Average condo prices are universally lower than average residential prices, which reflect the soaring trajectory of single-family housing markets around the GTA in particular. RE/MAX analysts point to the influence of so-called “move-over” buyers who are leaving the downtown core in search of more affordable choices elsewhere. “In turn, they are driving price appreciation in Mississauga, Brampton, Durham, Barrie, Hamilton-Burlington, Windsor and as far away as Kingston,” the report concludes.
