Here in the dog days of summer, there is one thing that realtors, new homeowners, and developers look for – Urbanation’s second quarter findings. They are the leading source for unbiased and unfiltered information on the new and resale condo market – when Urbanation talks, people take notice.

The first thing that stands out for us in the second quarter findings is the healthy climb in the condo resale market. There were 5,050 new condominium resale transactions, which is an increase of 30 percent against the first quarter of 2012, and a 9 percent increase from the second quarter of 2011. Prices in resale condominium transactions rose 4 percent. What is extremely interesting is the fact that within this time period we saw new mortgage rules with tighter restrictions on lending, yet the demand for downtown condominiums remains strong.

“Following three quarters of flat pricing and declining sales-to-listings ratios, we expected that the additional supply registering had finally depressed the market,” says Ben Myers, Urbanation executive vice-president and editor. “We were very surprised by the resale results in the second quarter. A healthy appetite for condominiums from end-users still exists.”

The new condominium market saw a bit of a cool down in the second quarter, with sales down 21 percent from the record high of 6,070 in the first quarter of 2012. There will no doubt be doom and gloom reported by some; however, the fact that the first six months of 2012 have made it the second-best year on record in the downtown Toronto market suggests that there is still a very strong demand for new downtown condominiums. The price of new condominiums in the downtown core continues to rise, with a 7.2 percent year-over-year increase against the second quarter of 2011.

As Ben Myers mentioned in our talk with him last month, there is no doubt that the new condominium market is cooling, but given the fact that there are almost 100,000 new residents in Toronto every year, demand will remain high.

Urbanation has not adjusted their forecast of 20,000 new condominium sales and 17,500 resales for year-end 2012, so it seems that we’re still on track for a great year!