[URBAN NOTE] "High-rise living increasingly part of GTA’s high-priced housing"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski describes the rise of the high-rise home throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

High-rise living and sky-high home prices aren't just for downtowners any more.

Toronto is still the hotbed of condo activity, with more than half of sales occurring in the city. But apartments are a hot commodity all over, with sales across the region rising 52 per cent in July compared to the same month last year.

Low-rise home sales declined 32 per cent last month, part of a 7 per cent drop this year to date. But high rises have risen 25 per cent year over year in 2016.

The average price of a new low-rise Toronto-area home — including detached houses, semis and townhomes — continued edging closer to the $1 million mark last month, hitting $906,508 — up 12 per cent over July 2015.

At the same time, the supply of ground-level new homes has plummeted, according to an Altus Group report for the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) released Monday.