The rental stats were released last week by the Toronto Real Estate Board and the demand for condo apartments still remains strong. For the second quarter of this year 9,749 condo apartment rental transactions were reported, up by 14.9% compared to 2018. The number of condo apartments that were listed were also up by 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. The average 2019 one-bedroom condo apartment rent for the GTA was $2,192, up 6.7% compared to 2018. Over the same period, the average two-bedroom condo apartment rent increased by 4.3% to 2,873. The vacancy rate for the city of Toronto sits at 0.7%. The GTA population continues to trend upward, as the region attracts people from around the world, both on a permanent and temporary basis, to take advantage of a diversity of employment opportunities. Many of these newcomers and existing GTA households choose to rent.

Last week the residential sector did a complete reversal compared to the week before. Listings were down by 5% but overall sales made a gigantic jump, up by 35%. Buyers were back after the long weekend as reported with busy open houses still happening. The majority of the sales are still happening in the east end with 50% of homes in the $800K to $1.5K range selling at or above the list price.

The resale condo market sector is following the same trends, except new listings were up by 7% and sales have climbed by nearly 43% week-over-week. The majority of sales are between the $400K and $700K price point with 52% of condos selling at or above the list price.