Rental Condo Market - Most Successful Sector
By Lucas on Sep 12, 2013
On Sept. 11, the National Post published an article about the state of the condo market in regards to the rental, new, and resale sectors, using Urbanation’s Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) statistics.
Which sector is performing best?
If it were some sort of competition, it wouldn’t be much of a nail biter. For the year starting in Q3-2012 and ending in Q2-2013, Urbanation recorded 17,166 rental transactions, 14,247 sales for the resale market, and just 13,789 sales of new condos.
So, the rental condo market is cleaning up, but it was expected. With record production years behind us, it was only a matter of time before developers had to cool down and spend more time selling off their inventory. According to Urbanation, there are 19,394 unsold inventory units in the CMA as of Q2-2013. This accounts for 21% of all active units (units selling in preconstruction or under construction).
Don’t start worrying about the new condo market though. Q2-2013 showed a 43% increase over Q1-2013, and second quarters are traditionally more successful than first quarters, so it’s good that the new condo market is maintaining a healthy trend.
What does it all mean?
So, the rental market is thriving, the resale market is steady, and the new condo market is stabilizing. Basically, things are running smooth.
Recently, Genworth Canada released its Summer 2013 Metropolitan Condo Outlook report, where they highlighted Toronto’s high inventory, and predicted that developers would hold back on some of their new releases and new openings for the rest of 2013, and even throughout 2014. It isn’t until 2015 that Genworth Canada is predicting a resurgence in the new condo market.
Over the next year, there may be more people putting off buying and deciding to rent until they think it’s the right time to enter the market, but as we always say, the only way to tell if it’s the right time to buy is if it’s the right time for you. In a stable market, if you can afford a downpayment and a mortgage, and you’re ready for the responsibility of owning a home, then start hunting and take advantage of all the great incentives being offered by developers who are looking to clear out their inventory.
