July 2020 Condo Market Update for Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph
By Condo Culture
As we enter September, it’s a great time to look at where the condo market in Kitchener-Waterloo , Cambridge, and Guelph stands after a month into Ontario’s phase three of the reopening plan. We’ve all seen the impact of COVID-19 on the market–and our friends, families, and businesses.
We knew there would be an impact on the local condo market at the beginning of the pandemic. The Condo Culture team spent March and April researching how markets around the world respond to outbreaks and pandemics such as SARS in Toronto in 2003 and Hong Kong, China, and Italy in January and February of this year. All those reports suggested that the bottom would fall out of the market with a 70-90% decline followed by a slow recovery.
We did see an impact in April where condo transactions were down 65% with only 87 transactions versus 254 in April 2019. May and June saw a faster recovery than we thought–which brings us to July. Where do we stand now? “There’s more interest than ever before,” said Jeff Gibson, broker of record and co-founder at Condo Culture.
Gibson describes the Kitchener-Waterloo condo market as being extremely resilient. While transactions were down 44% in April, June 2020 saw 60% more transactions year over year in the market. In July and August, the condo market in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph also saw an increase in transaction activity compared to last year.
Based on July’s market information, prices are up 20.77% compared to July 2019. Driving that price increase is the sheer number of buyers in the market and the competition when purchasing. “We have very strong fundamentals in the market locally,” Gibson said. “Our clients know that even with market changes, Kitchener-Waterloo is still a great place to buy real estate.”