Here are the statistics for last month:

Over the last 5 years, the average number of condos on the market for sale in February has been 919. This past February we had only 424, available inventory is less than half as typical.

Over the last 5 years, the average number of condos on the market that sold in February has been 287. This past February we had 297 sales... demand is typical.

The supply and demand has been about the same strong level for the last 10 months and was slightly higher last month which translated into a price spike.

The median price of a downtown condo was up from $550,000 to $585,000 in February, a significant 6.4% increase in one month.

In February, the average price of a detached home was slightly down from $1,283,981 to $1,282,240. Since January 2017, home prices are still down -4.1% whereas condos are now up 27.1%. I will continue to report this through 2018 to compare this interesting divergence between house and condo prices. Here is a longer term graph of the two indices to for comparison:

In the above graph, you can see the trajectory of the Condo prices change beginning in 2017. The entry level price for a 1 bdrm condo with no parking is about $450k which is out of reach for many first time buyers. This is having dramatic consequences keeping most in their 20's at home for longer or choosing to rent instead.

In the housing market, we're seeing desirable neighbourhoods able to get bidding wars once again. Seeing homes receive between 3-8 offers is quite typical once again. We also see bidding wars in the condo market with surprisingly strong interest in the high end, 2-4 million market. There was a lot of apprehension about 2018 due to new mortgage rules but that concern seems to be waning and I now think it's more likely to see housing prices increase this Spring. It would be best for condo price sustainability if we saw that market calm down and flat line for the rest of the year.