The Price Gap Between High-Rise and Low-Rise Homes

The average selling price for homes in the GTA this September was $533,797, representing 6.5 per cent growth on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price through the first nine months of 2013 reached $520,118, which is over 4 per cent more than through the same period in 2012.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark, which adjusts for changes in the types of houses sold, experienced 4 per cent year-over-year growth in September.

It was the strong growth in sales that helped push average prices up. Jason Mercer, TREB’s senior manager of market analysis, commented,

The price growth story in September continued to be about strong demand for low-rise home types, coupled with a short supply of listings. Even with slower price growth and month-to-month volatility in the condo apartment market, overall annual price growth has been well above the rate of inflation this year. This scenario will continue to play out through the remainder of 2013.

Average sale prices were pulled by townhouses and detached houses, which were up 9.7 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively. The average sale price of a detached home in the GTA was $674,027, and an average townhouse cost $405,368. Prices of semi-detached houses went up by a modest 1.5 per cent, reaching an average price of $488,749.

On the other hand, condo prices in the GTA recorded a 1.8 per cent decline year-over-year, with prices in the city going down by 3.7 per cent and in the 905 region increasing by 2.9 per cent. The average selling price of condo apartments in the GTA for September 2013 was 342,760. Sal Guatieri, senior economist of BMO Nesbitt Burns, pointed out,

Eight years ago you could have bought a low-rise and high-rise property for the price of the former today. Land constraints have driven detached home prices higher, while smaller unit sizes have dampened condo demand.

The price gap between detached homes and condos is increasing, particularly in the City of Toronto, where condo prices experienced a decline. When we divide the Toronto housing market into low-rise and high-rise markets, we can see that over the past three years, high-rise prices remained relatively flat, with a 3 per cent increase, while low-rise prices spiked 35 per cent over the same period.