Detached home sales soar as condos continue to take over the real estate market

While developers build ever more condominium towers across the city, the classic object of any potential homeowner’s yearning—the detached home—is surging in value at a pace that far exceeds that of the ubiquitous apartment unit. Detached homes have become a “precious” commodity (realtor Richard Silver’s words) as the condo craze has rapidly increased the skyward share of Toronto’s housing stock. According to Moneyville.ca, demand for detached homes is so strong that sales jumped 22 per cent across the GTA last month, which, in turn, pushed the average price of all homes up to $517,556 (an 8.5 per cent increase over April 2011). Of course, none of this is much of a surprise—10 years ago one condo was built for every three houses and today there are three condos for every house. Demand meet supply. Supply, demand. The only question left to be answered is whether or not this red-hot housing market can last. [Moneyville]