Mississauga Condo market update
Rogers TV First Local recently covered a special edition on Mississauga’s condo market. Their reporter met me and asked me about my views on the market. Below is what I had to say about the resale and new builder’s condos in Mississauga downtown. Not everything was telecast due to time constrain:
Resale condo market is healthy
Mississauga condo market in Downtown Mississauga is doing well looking at the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) data below. In the past five years resale numbers in W15 show that almost 1200, 1300, 1400 and 1422 condo apartments were sold in the year 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Condo Apartments Sale in W15 (Mississauga Square One Neighbourhood)
| Month | Active Listings | Sales | Sold to Active Ratio | Median Price $ |
Feb 2005 | 405 | 81 | 20% | 175,000 |
Feb 2006 | 388 | 94 | 24.2% | 171,250 |
Feb 2007 | 441 | 104 | 23.6% | 184,450 |
Feb 2008 | 302 | 110 | 36.4% | 201,000 |
Feb 2009 | 378 | 77 | 20.4% | 203,000 |
The active to sold listings ratio may have been down compared to last year, but the prices have not dropped. This shows strength in the Mississauga real estate market. Mississauga condo prices have appreciated almost 16% in past four years. Mississauga is the no.1 destination of choice of new immigrants and professionals. Mississauga is a knowledge based economy and many educated professionals make Mississauga their home. Many first time buyers who cannot afford Toronto real estate prices and or buyers who do not want to pay more in Toronto’s new land transfer tax also flock Mississauga.
Mississauga has some great plans for its Downtown. Revitalization of public spaces in and around downtown Mississauga, with particular focus on the new parks and public spaces in the City Centre area is on its way. The City is spending millions of dollars to revitalize the City Centre area. The place is poised to become vibrant in the coming years with many activities that will take place in the vicinity- road shows, multicultural events, farmer markets, piazzas, coffee shops, GO transit terminal expansion, bus rapid transit, cinema halls, parks, walking trails etc.
This will further add value to the condos in the Square One Area.
New builder condo market Is Down
The current economic downturn has certainly taken a toll on new builder condos sales market in Downtown Mississauga. As per the RealNet’s new home market data, less than five new builder condos were sold in Jan 09 out of approx. 770 in W15 district. One of the reasons can be attributed to the future pricing model of these units. Builder’s price of pre-construction condo is always more than the current market price of similar condo in the resale market. With the plunging housing numbers and a gloomy economic outlook, buyers are finding better value in resale condos.
Some builders are becoming smarter and offering more incentives to the buyers. In my opinion, unless the builders don’t entice buyers with better pricing and incentives they may find it hard to sell many condos in this market.
