The cost of a backyard in Toronto and its surrounding suburbs continues to surge, with little let up in sight.
The latest monthly numbers from the area’s regional real estate board out Monday show benchmark home prices in the country’s biggest housing market surging another 10.5 per cent in September.
The latest jump was led by “the low-rise market segments,” or single-family homes as well as detached and semi-detached properties.
The average price of a detached home in the metro area hit $1.05 million last month. The average condo price rose to $418,603 in the “416” region.
The average price for those property types was up 10.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, compared to September 2014.
There were 8,200 homes that traded hands last month, a record for September, the city’s real estate board said.
A shortage of listings for detached homes relative to interested buyers “suggests competition between buyers will remain strong,” Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, said.
“Expect strong rates of price growth to continue through the remainder of 2015 and into 2016,” he said.
Price gap
Current market conditions have created meaningful affordability challenges for young families in condos looking to move into a property with a little more green space.
“Toronto home buyers and condo dwellers bemoan the widening chasm between single-family and condo prices,” Sal Guatieri, economist at BMO said in a recent note, suggesting the gulf reflects “a consequence of land restrictions.”
The price gap between a condo and a detached home in Toronto has doubled since 2009, the econonmist said, to $332,400.
“If it’s any consolation for Torontonians pining for a backyard, note that Vancouverites were dealing with a similar wide spread back in 2006.”
While the gulf between condos and detached homes has widened the most in the metro area, it continues to grow across the entire Greater Toronto Area:
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