New report says Mississauga condo market picking up steam

While the rapid-fire growth in condo values appeared to stall in 2020 amid an exodus from urban centres to more rural areas dotted with detached homes, a new report from Strata.ca indicates that Mississauga’s condo market is starting to pick up steam. 

The report says that in March 2021, condo sales in the GTA were nearly double what they were when the pandemic began a year ago, hitting a record-high of 4,165 transactions.

As far as Mississauga goes, Strata.ca says the city saw the most transactions of all the GTA suburbs, with a total of 519 units sold in March. 

According to numbers recently released by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, the average condo apartment price in Mississauga hit $584,595 in March and the average price of a condo townhouse hit $769,086. 

The overall GTA condo market increased in value by 3 per cent.

Strata.ca says Toronto saw a little over 2,500 sales in March, with most (907) concentrated in the downtown core. This was followed by North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough at 559, 338, and 325 respectively. 

Strata.ca says the best time to buy was in November

Strata.ca says GTA homebuyers had been hoping for a drop in real estate prices amid the pandemic, but according to Robert Van Rhijn, Broker of Record at Strata.ca, that highly-anticipated drop quickly came and went last fall.

“We now know in hindsight that the best time to buy during this whole pandemic was in November. That’s when the average price of a GTA condo fell to $610,000,” Van Rhijn said in the report. 

Van Rhijn says the average condo selling price has increased by $80,000 since the market hit its lowest point.

“This price increase is almost certainly due to those buyers who were once sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the market to bottom out. Now they’re realizing it may be a while before prices dip again, so they’re trying to purchase whatever they can,” he said.

Strata.ca says condos consistently sold above-asking in March, with demand expected to sustain itself into summer. 

In March, GTA condo inventory was up 21 per cent year-over-year, but the average condo sold for 5.5 per cent above the asking price. 

“I suspect that demand will continue to far outpace supply until the early summer months. Come the end of the spring market, those pent-up buyers will likely have purchased by then,” says Van Rhijn.