Toronto Housing Market Overtakes Montreal in Condo Affordability
As prices sink, Toronto condos have returned to 2019 affordability levels, according to a new report from RBC Economics.
“Condo prices in Toronto have fallen faster than most other markets, and that is happening while incomes have continued to rise,” said Rachel Battaglia, an economist with RBC Economics, and co-author of the report.
Condos in Montreal are now less affordable than ones in Toronto, a “reshuffling” of the markets for the first time in over a decade, Battaglia added.
RBC’s affordability index, the percentage of pre-tax income for a typical household going to housing, is now at 36.1 per cent for condos in the Toronto area, as of the first quarter of 2026.
That’s below the 38.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019, and slightly above the 30 per cent threshold that is recommended.
This is good news for buyers waiting on the sidelines. But Battaglia noted, “condo affordability in Toronto is still somewhat stretched and still among the worst of the major markets.”
Montreal-area condos are at 36.3 per cent, and Halifax units at 33.4 per cent. The national average is 35.2 per cent, while in the Vancouver area affordability is sitting at 44 per cent as of the first quarter of 2026.
Jen Heakes, a realtor at Sage Real Estate in Toronto, said she is seeing some condos go for less than 2019 prices, or close to them.
The Star previously reported on several examples of small downtown condos, typically under 700 square feet, that recently sold for less than they went for in 2017, according to real estate website HouseSigma.
Generally, Heakes says the price depends on why people have to sell.
Those that are forced to, because of a death or divorce, will take a loss, she said. The other group selling now is move-up buyers, who may take a loss on a condo but then get their next property for less than they would have at the market peak in 2022.
Otherwise owners are holding on and hoping prices will go up again soon, she said. But she noted that the likelihood of them getting a price they are happy with depends on the unit.
“I would say it’s not really as much area as it is product and building,” she added.
“The larger corner units that are more unique in boutique buildings will always do better than the seventh floor in a highrise.”
Toronto affordability ‘still a big concern’
Victor Tran, a mortgage and real estate expert with Rates.ca, said despite falling condo prices, affordability “is still a big concern.”
“It’s not like our incomes have really increased that much,” he said.
Condo fees, property taxes and utilities have all gone up since 2019, and interest rates were in general a little lower at that time, he added.
Single-family homes remain very unaffordable in Toronto, with 80 per cent of household pre-tax income going to ownership costs, according to the RBC report.
This also makes Toronto the country’s second least affordable market, after Vancouver, the report added.
This article was first reported by The Star
