In some Toronto neighbourhoods, condo values are up 50% in 1 year, report says

Despite reports that housing prices have fallen overall in Canada over the past year, in some Toronto neighbourhoods, the value of a one bedroom condo has gone way up.

• House prices fell in Toronto suburbs in last quarter, Royal LePage survey says

• Average Canadian house sold for $481,500 last month, up 1% in past year

According to the latest data from the Toronto Real Estate Board, multi-family housing, both of the low- and high-rise variety, experienced a price appreciation of 8.3 per cent in the 416 region.

Penelope Graham, managing editor at Zoocasa, an online real estate brokerage, said the company analyzed the data and price appreciation for condos differs dramatically from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

"Real estate conditions are really local, which means on a neighbourhood scale, affordability can differ widely across the city," Graham said.

According to the data, the greatest appreciation for a one-bedroom condo was in L'Amoreux, a neighbourhood north of Sheppard Avenue and east of the Don Valley Parkway, and in Corinthian, a neighbourhood in the Victoria Park Avenue and Finch Avenue East area. 

In 2017, the average price for one-bedroom condos in these neighbourhoods was $187,000. In 2018 that number is $268,400.

The second-highest value increase was noted in Forest Hill and midtown Toronto at 45 per cent. In 2017, the average price of a one-bedroom condo in those neighbourhoods was $342,923 and in 2018 it's risen to $496,222.

Meanwhile, in neighbourhoods like Greektown, Riverdale and Leaside, the numbers show condo values have depreciated.

"In some of these areas, there wasn't a lot of condo stock to begin with," Graham said.

You can read the full report, which also includes analysis of two-bedroom condos, here.

Graham said Zoocasa looked at data and calculated the year-to-date price across 95 Toronto neighbourhoods, and compared them to the year-to-date price this time in 2017 to see how much they went up in value.

'Double digit gains'

Toronto real estate broker Pierre Carapetian says these numbers don't surprise him.

"In downtown Toronto, the condo market has been flourishing for quite some time, seeing double digit gains,"  Carapetian said.

"People are making a lot of money. Investors are buying rapidly."

Carapetian says he provides his investors with bi annual updates on the value of their properties and every six months they've seen growth.

He says this is partly because Toronto is growing so rapidly, and for many a condo is the only option.

"That's what available for the majority of people so that's why you're seeing an increase in prices because there's not enough of them to fill a demand."

The broker stresses the importance of checking the statistics in your specific neighbourhood when you're buying or selling, not listening to overall city or nationwide statistics.

"Be very careful when you hear a statistic, and what it's actually telling you, and if it's relevant to what you're looking for."