Hey there, Ivaylo Stoyanov here from the Stoyanov Group and in this video I will be discussing how the condo market is trending in comparison to the freehold market. We will take a look at how both markets were trending in 2020 and where they are now in the beginning of 2021.

Taking a look at both markets before the first lockdown in March of 2020, both the condo and freehold market were absolutely on fire with prices on the rise in both sectors. After the first lockdown took affect in mid March of 2020, real estate in general almost came to a complete halt with very limited transactions taking place. There was very little inventory and even fewer transactions causing real estate activity to almost come to a complete halt for roughly 3-4 months. One of the things that people realized who lived in condos was that they needed more space and with working from home becoming more and more acceptable from many employers, it became very important for people to move out and get into a freehold home. Along with that, immigration in general has dramatically slowed down into Canada which really decreases demand especially for the condo market.

One of the other factors to look into is that many condos, especially in Toronto were short term rentals for many investors which were no longer allowed in many buildings after mid March of 2020, causing those investors to either convert their investment into long term rentals or sell their investment, which caused condo inventory levels to dramatically rise.

Low immigration, high inventory and low demand for the condo market has forced condo prices to decline over the last six months. On the other hand with more and more demand increasing for freehold properties due to people looking for bigger homes, working from home and not needing to live as close as possible to their work, freehold prices have been rising steadily for the last 6 months and continue to rise as this trend is slowly becoming the new norm. As we expect the freehold market to continue to rise in price as we are seeing low inventory and high demand right now, DO NOT expect condo prices to stay where they are for much longer. Canada's immigration plan to bring roughly 3 million immigrants over the next 5 years will bring much more demand into the Toronto market which will affect prices. Investors are slowly going to come back to the Toronto market as they realize the potential rate of returns from current low prices.          

If you have a more in depth question regarding the condo or freehold market and how the current situation could affect your plan to buy, sell or invest, we would love the opportunity to go over any questions you have and help out with your decision.