Toronto Star, Jan 26, 2008 04:30 AM
For the first time, the average price of a condominium in some GTA districts last year rose at a higher rate than single-detached houses.
In the GTA’s central core district, the average condo price in 2007 jumped by 12.2 per cent (to $327,559 from $292,064), according to Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada. In the same year, the average price for single-detached homes in the same district went up by 11.5 per cent (to $910, 906 from $816,938).
In the west end, condo prices increased by 7.3 per cent, single-detached prices by 6.6 per cent.
“Condominiums are clearly a viable – and now financially feasible – alternative to single-detached housing,” says Michael Polzler, executive vice-president of Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
Condo prices rose by double-digit amounts in 12 of 63 Toronto Real Estate Board districts in the GTA last year, Re/Max said in a statement. The best-performing district was Bayview Village, where average condo prices jumped by 40.8 per cent (to $340,113 from $241,611).
As for single-detached homes, their average prices increased by double-digit amounts in 13 of those 63 TREB districts, led by Forest Hill, where the average price climbed by 21.1 per cent (to $1,028,960 from $849,697).
http://www.thestar.com/article/296881