Toronto Real Estate Board release its fourth quarter of 2022 condo report, showing the only residential properties holding value across the GTA, including in Halton and Oakville, were condos. Unit sales drastically decreased in this real estate sector, but prices remained firm.
"Condo apartments remain an important segment of the market. They are the key entry point for many first-time buyers. Investor-owned condos are also an important source of rental supply in many parts of the GTA," stated TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
"As immigration into Canada continues at a record pace for the foreseeable future, the GTA will welcome many new households. This should see the demand for condos, in both the ownership and rental markets, strengthen moving forward," continued Mercer.
During Q4 of 2021 in Halton, 335 condos were sold; in 2022, it dropped 136 units to 199, a decrease of 40%. In Oakville, during the fourth quarter of 2022, 65 condos were sold with a median price of $806,491. It took, on average, 34 days on market to sell at 96% of the last listed price. There were roughly 1.5 months of inventory.
In the GTA, Halton represented just 6% of all sales. Of the units sold, 20% had one bedroom, 23% had one bedroom plus a den, 32% had two bedrooms, and 16% had two bedrooms plus a den.
Halton has 26.7% of the GTA's condo rentals and the lowest vacancy rate at 0.4%. The lack of availability explains the extremely high cost of rentals in Oakville, and supports the recent Oakville News post: Oakville named the most expensive place for housing in Canada. In that article, Oakville renters pay an average of $2,146.
"On average, the condo market segment is the most affordable. Therefore, it makes sense that we didn’t see the same type of price adjustment, in the face of higher borrowing costs, compared to other more expensive segments like detached homes,” said Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron.