23 In particular, as the prices of single-family homes rise, condos become a more affordable alternative. In Vancouver, bounded on three sides by water with coastal mountains as a backdrop, condo development has dominated housing starts since the early 1990s. We are now seeing a similar shift to condos in Montréal and Toronto (Chart 11).
24 In recent years, Toronto and Vancouver have seen price growth in single-family houses outpace multiples (mainly condos) by a factor of two to three. About a third of the Canadian housing stock is in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver so this change is significant. Outside of Canada’s big three cities, condos are only now becoming as important as single-family homes.