New Condos and Homes in Downtown Toronto

Downtown Toronto is where most of the city's new condos are being built, and it is the best choice if you want to walk to work, school or the subway. The City of Toronto's TOcore downtown plan covers the area from Lake Ontario north to the mid-town rail corridor and Rosedale Valley Road, and from Bathurst Street east to the Don River. Close to 240,000 people live there today, and the City projects the population could nearly double, to about 475,000, by 2041. Almost all of that growth will be in condo towers.

This guide explains what is being built, how prices and the rules for new-home buyers look as of October 2026, and what downtown offers for transit, schools, parks and jobs.

Top photo: Downtown Toronto seen from the Toronto Islands. Photo: Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What is being built downtown

New homes downtown are almost all condominium apartments in mid-rise and high-rise buildings, plus a growing number of purpose-built rental towers. Freehold houses are rarely built new here. Suites are mostly studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms; three-bedroom suites exist but are fewer and cost more per suite.

Current projects we list in the area include Centricity by Graywood Developments and Elektra Condos by Menkes. The project cards at the top of this page are always current, and the Downtown Toronto project list and the Toronto pre-construction list let you filter by move-in year, price and home type. Builders active downtown include Menkes and Graywood Developments.

Prices and the market as of October 2026

Toronto's resale condo market is soft as of October 2026, which gives buyers more room to negotiate. In September 2026 the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board reported an average condo apartment price in the City of Toronto of $640,248, down 6.1% from a year earlier, and a benchmark condo price of $543,800, down 6.4%. Across the GTA, 5,040 homes of all types sold, 9% fewer than a year before, at an average of $1,006,409.

Two other things to know: the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate to 2.50% on October 28, 2026 and said further increases are possible, and CMHC reports Toronto rents are still easing as many new condos are finished and rented out (purpose-built vacancy was 3.0% in its 2025 survey). New suites usually cost more than resale ones, so compare both, and include the 2026 HST relief below, which applies only to new homes.

For a pre-construction condo, the price you pay is set by the builder's price list and incentives at the time you sign, not by resale averages. In a slower market, builders often add incentives such as extended deposit schedules or capped development charges; ask us for the current list for any project.

Getting around

Downtown has the city's best transit. Line 1 Yonge-University runs up both Yonge Street and University Avenue, and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth crosses the north edge. Union Station connects the subway to GO Transit trains and buses across the region and to the UP Express to Pearson Airport. Streetcars run on King, Queen, Dundas, College, Spadina and Bathurst. Route maps and schedules are on ttc.ca.

The Ontario Line, now under construction, will cross downtown with stations including King West, Chinatown, Osgoode, Queen and Moss Park, linking Exhibition Place to the east end and Line 5 at Don Mills. Tunnelling downtown began in April 2026; Metrolinx has not published an opening date, so don't count on it for a near-term move-in.

Drivers use the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway, but most downtown condo owners walk, cycle or take transit. Many new suites are sold without a parking space, so if you need one, check that it is offered and what it costs before you sign.

Schools and universities

Public schools are run by the Toronto District School Board and Catholic schools by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Because so many new homes are being added, some downtown schools are full and new students can be sent to a school further away, so check the address with the TDSB school locator or the TCDSB school locator first.

Downtown is also home to the University of Toronto's St. George campus, Toronto Metropolitan University, OCAD University and George Brown College, which keep rental demand strong.

Parks and the waterfront

Green space downtown is smaller and busier than in the suburbs. The main parks include Queen's Park around the Ontario Legislature, Allan Gardens with its historic conservatory, Grange Park behind the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the waterfront parks and trails along Queens Quay. The Toronto Island parks are a short ferry ride from the foot of Bay Street.

Jobs

Downtown is Canada's largest employment cluster, with more than 500,000 jobs according to the City's TOcore plan. The Financial District around King and Bay holds the head offices of the big banks, insurers and law firms; the hospitals along University Avenue form the Health Sciences District; and the provincial and city governments, the universities, tech companies and the entertainment district add many more. Being able to walk to these jobs is the main reason people pay downtown prices.

Who downtown suits

• People who work or study downtown and want to give up a long commute or a car.
• First-time buyers buying a studio, one-bedroom or one-bedroom-plus-den, who may qualify for the first-time buyer tax relief on new homes described below.
• Investors looking for rental demand from students and downtown workers, who should compare expected rent with carrying costs before buying.
• Downsizers who want shops, theatres, restaurants and hospitals within walking distance.
• Families who need three bedrooms and a yard usually find more space for the money in midtown or the suburbs; see our guides to North Toronto and Bloor West Village.

Rules every new-home buyer should know in 2026

• HST relief on new homes, for all buyers who will live there. For agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, Ontario's enhanced new housing rebate covers up to $80,000 of the 8% provincial HST, and the Ontario New Home Affordability Payment adds up to $50,000 toward the federal 5%: up to $130,000 in total. Relief is full up to $1 million, stays at the cap to $1.5 million and phases out by $1.85 million. The home must be your (or a relative's) primary residence.
• First-time buyers. The federal First-Time Home Buyers' GST rebate (law since March 2026) removes up to $50,000 of GST on a new home of up to $1 million, phasing out by $1.5 million, for agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031. The Ontario payment is reduced by any federal rebate you claim, so the two don't stack beyond the full tax.
• Investors who will rent the suite out don't get the primary-residence relief above; a separate rental-property rebate applies, so get tax advice before you sign.
• 30-year mortgages. Since December 15, 2024, insured mortgages can run 30 years for first-time buyers and for anyone buying a newly built home, and insured mortgages are allowed on homes up to $1.5 million.
• Deposit protection. Tarion protects condo deposits up to $20,000, and you get a 10-day cooling-off period on a new condo after you receive the signed agreement and disclosure statement. Check the builder's licence in the HCRA Ontario Builder Directory.
• Land transfer tax. First-time buyers can get back up to $4,000 of Ontario's land transfer tax (ontario.ca) and up to $4,475 of Toronto's municipal land transfer tax (toronto.ca). Toronto homes pay both taxes.

This is general information, not legal, tax or mortgage advice. Rules change; check the linked official pages or ask us before you sign.

Talk to us

Tall Property tracks new condos and homes across Toronto and the GTA. Call us at 416-878-0749 or use the form on this page for price lists, floor plans, current incentives and VIP access to new launches. We'll also tell you honestly when a resale suite is the better buy.