First time buyers and transit-leaning Torontonians mulling over the idea of swapping out their rental payments for a monthly mortgage on a condo may be wondering – what can I afford to buy and what is a typical cost per square foot by neighourhood in Toronto?
In order to shed some light on high rise prices in Canada’s largest metropolis, TheRedPin.com, a Toronto-based full service real estate brokerage, shared with InsurEye some insights and broke down prices for condominiums on a square foot basis across the city (more details further below).
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Based on data that factored in over 6,000 condo sales, TheRedPin found average price per square foot of a condo across Toronto to be approximately $500. When stepping into the city’s downtown, which effectively covers neighbourhoods south of Bloor Street, average per square foot prices leaped to around $622.
In effect, that means if you’ve got a $400,000 budget, you can expect to buy around a 650 square foot unit in the city’s downtown.
When delving deeper at the neighbourhood level, it comes with little surprise prices were highest on prime swathes of real estate in the core along Bay Street – where the cost of buying a unit was recorded at $735 per square foot. Waterfront Communities, an area which encompasses both the Financial and Entertainment Districts, came in as Toronto’s second most expensive neighbourhood for condos at $622 per square feet.
Budget-conscious condo seekers who still want to be in quick streetcar riding distance to the core can opt for yuppie enclaves Liberty Village, Cityplace and the Harbourfront, as prices for the three neighbourhoods collectively sat at an estimated $557 per square foot – considerably less than the core.
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However, the most affordable condo hubs in the city were found further north in Willowdale and westward toward Etobicoke where prices were close to the high $400s to the low $500s per square foot mark.
It’s worth noting smaller units tend to command a higher price per square foot while the inverse is true for larger units. So while real estate values are higher in the core is the main factor driving higher PPSF, the fact apartments get smaller the more south you go does play a part too.
The analysis, which covered all Toronto condo resales in the first four months of the year, are based on general square foot ranges provided through MLS® that categorizes apartments by every 100 square feet, so prices made available are not precise to the exact foot.
Overall, Toronto’s condo market has reached new heights in 2016, with sales up nearly 20 per cent and price growth pegged around 8 per cent year-over-year between January to April compared to the same time twelve months earlier in 2015.
Approx. Average Cost Per Square Foot for a Toronto Condo
City of Toronto
Avg. Condo Price: $426,996
Approximate cost per square foot: $500
Condo Sales: 6324
Downtown Toronto
Avg. Condo Price: $476,712
Approximate cost per square foot: $622
Condo Sales: 1772
Bay Street Corridor (Central Bay Street Area)
Avg. Condo Price: $588,037
Approximate cost per square foot: $735
Condo Sales: 316
Waterfront Communities (Entertainment District & Fashion District)
Avg. Condo Price: $485,638
Approximate cost per square foot: $622
Condo Sales: 881
Church-Yonge Corridor (Church and Wellesley)
Avg. Condo Price: $483,036
Approximate cost per square foot: $598
Condo Sales: 249
Niagara (Liberty Village, CityPlace and Harbourfront)
Avg. Condo Price: $399,855
Approximate cost per square foot: $557
Condo Sales: 418
Willowdale East
Avg. Condo Price: $435,894
Approximate cost per square foot: $509
Condo Sales: 443
Mimico
Avg. Condo Price: $409,557
Approximate cost per square foot: $479
Condo Sales: 292
Islington City Centre
Avg. Condo Price: $350,356
Approximate cost per square foot: $429
Condo Sales: 222
Note: Price per square foot provided is based on rounded off ranges and are not precise to the exact foot
These insights on the average price per square foot in Toronto were kindly shared by our friends at TheRedPin, a full service real estate brokerage that carries the largest database of residential listings in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver Areas.
Based on data that factored in over 6,000 condo sales, TheRedPin found average price per square foot of a condo across Toronto to be approximately $500. When stepping into the city’s downtown, which effectively covers neighbourhoods south of Bloor Street, average per square foot prices leaped to around $622.
In effect, that means if you’ve got a $400,000 budget, you can expect to buy around a 650 square foot unit in the city’s downtown.
When delving deeper at the neighbourhood level, it comes with little surprise prices were highest on prime swathes of real estate in the core along Bay Street – where the cost of buying a unit was recorded at $735 per square foot. Waterfront Communities, an area which encompasses both the Financial and Entertainment Districts, came in as Toronto’s second most expensive neighbourhood for condos at $622 per square feet.
Budget-conscious condo seekers who still want to be in quick streetcar riding distance to the core can opt for yuppie enclaves Liberty Village, Cityplace and the Harbourfront, as prices for the three neighbourhoods collectively sat at an estimated $557 per square foot – considerably less than the core.