(Exterior rendering of One Ten Avenue Road/Sierra).

 

Two Toronto condo developers selling into one of the toughest presale markets in decades say buyers are still showing up, but not for the same product, or at the same pace, that defined the city’s last condo boom.

At One Ten Avenue Road, a 72-residence boutique development near Yorkville and the Annex, developer Sierra Building Group says the project is about 40 per cent sold after launching presales this spring. Many purchasers are combining smaller suites into larger homes, pushing the typical purchase to around $3 million before customization.

Farther north, Gupta Group says Yonge City Square at Yonge Street and York Mills Road is roughly 35 per cent sold. The developer has majorly redesigned the project, reducing the unit count from 700 to 500 planned units. The move allows for more spacious two- and three-bedroom condos, responding to increasing demand for larger residences.

Both projects are targeting buyers who intend to live in their units, while accepting a slower sales cycle than the investor-driven market once delivered.

 

Presales remain near historic lows

 

For the first time in at least 30 years, no new condominium projects launched in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA) during the first quarter of 2026. Just 246 new condos sold, a 35-year low and 94 per cent below the 10-year average, according to market analytics firm Urbanation Inc.

Sales picked up to 702 units in the second quarter, according to a more recent Urbanation report, but remained 86 per cent below the 10-year average. Nearly all the improvement came from completed projects, including bulk purchases by investment groups.

So what does it take to move a new condo project forward in 2026? The experiences of Sierra and Gupta Group suggest buyers are still out there, but reaching them requires a strategy that hits closer to home.

 

Who is still buying?

 

Jeffrey Kansun, managing partner of Sierra, says the majority of One Ten’s buyers are downsizers coming from larger, high-end homes who want luxury without maintaining a yard, pool and other features of a large house.

That buyer behaves differently from the investors who were once a major force in Toronto’s presale market.

“The luxury market and your typical condo market as we knew it couldn’t be more different,” Kansun said.

He says the previous market became heavily dependent on speculators and investors buying units “like a commodity.” During that period, projects could sell 50 or 100 units in a weekend and reach presale targets quickly.

But One Ten is selling to a different customer.

“We’re selling a home to real people who have choices, who want to live in that home,” he said.

 

Buyers are combining units

 

That comes with a trade-off. Kansun says luxury buyers often don’t need to purchase immediately, resulting in a slower sales cycle.

One Ten also shows what those buyers want. While pricing begins around $1 million, Kansun says many purchasers are combining units, with the typical purchase coming in around $3 million before customization.

Sierra has also introduced its “Crafted by You” program, allowing purchasers to work with architect Richard Wengle and one of four interior design firms to alter layouts and finishes.

Kansun says the idea came from prospective buyers asking whether they could change units before the project launched.

 

Gupta scales back units, scales up suite size

 

 

At Yonge City Square, changing buyer preferences have led to a more dramatic alteration.

Gupta Group originally planned about 700 residences. It has reduced that to approximately 500 by combining units and increasing the proportion of larger homes. Founder and chairman Steve Gupta says approximately half are now two-bedroom units and another 15 per cent are three-bedrooms.

“Now those things are changing,” Gupta said of demand for smaller condos. “We feel that people want better living conditions. They’re more caring about their livability, so they want larger units.”

Current prices range from $1.5 million to $5 million, with a limited number of penthouses around $10 million. Gupta, like Kansun, points to downsizers as an important source of demand.

 

Building before the sales are there

 

Gupta says work began in January 2025 and, despite the project being only about 33 to 35 per cent sold, the company is not waiting for additional presales.

“We’re using our own money to build and do our construction because we don’t want to waste time,” Gupta said.

One Ten, meanwhile, is targeting construction in early 2027. Kansun says it must reach a certain presale threshold for financing, although he did not provide the target.

“We’re not terribly far from it,” he said.

 

Condo sales ticking up across price ranges

 

HouseSigma data provided to REM shows 60 GTA condos priced at $2 million or more sold between May and July, up from 55 during the same period last year — an increase of 9.1 per cent, but just five additional transactions.

Sales between $1 million and $2 million, meanwhile, declined 7.3 per cent. Overall, GTA condo transactions increased 3.9 per cent.

HouseSigma also found sales below $500,000 rose 64 per cent and accounted for 37 per cent of condo sales, up from 23 per cent a year earlier.

Joannah Connolly, head of content and PR at HouseSigma, cautioned that the shift could reflect falling prices, a change in the types of units being sold, or both.

 

A new way of doing things

 

Neither project suggests Toronto’s presale market has suddenly turned a corner. Buyers remain cautious, and getting enough of them through the door to make a project work is still a challenge.

But Gupta Group and Sierra are both moving ahead — Gupta by cutting roughly 200 units from Yonge City Square and putting its own capital behind construction, and Sierra by offering buyers more flexibility at One Ten Avenue Road and giving sales more time to build.

For Kansun, there may be a fairly straightforward lesson in what has worked so far.

“Turns out when you build something that’s suitable to live in, people want to buy it.”