New Condos and Homes in Kensington, Toronto

Kensington Market is one of the hardest places in Toronto to buy a brand-new home, and that is part of its appeal. The whole neighbourhood is a National Historic Site of Canada and a City of Toronto Heritage Conservation District (adopted by City Council in 2025 and approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2026), so the Victorian houses and market streets are protected and new towers are not going up inside it. Most new condos for Kensington buyers are on the edges: along Spadina Avenue, College Street and Dundas Street West, and in the blocks toward Chinatown, Alexandra Park and Queen West.

This guide covers what is being built nearby, how prices and the rules for new-home buyers look as of October 2026, and what living here is like day to day: transit, schools, parks and jobs.

Top photo: Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market, October 2026. Photo: Dillan Payne, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What is being built in and around Kensington

Parks Canada describes the historic site as the area bounded by Dundas Street West, Bellevue Avenue, Spadina Avenue and College Street. Inside it, homes are mostly older row houses and semis, many split into flats over shops. Because the district plan protects that streetscape, new construction here is small-scale and rare.

The new supply sits just outside: mid-rise and high-rise condos on Spadina and College, and larger towers south toward Queen and King West. Expect mostly studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, with a smaller number of larger suites. The project cards at the top of this page show what we track near Kensington right now; the Kensington project list and the wider Toronto pre-construction list let you filter by move-in year and price. For neighbouring areas see our guides to Downtown Toronto and King West.

What a heritage district means if you buy here

For the old houses inside the Market, the heritage rules matter more than for a condo on Spadina. The City's heritage permit guide explains that owners in a district need a heritage permit for additions, alterations and demolition, while interior-only work generally does not need one (a building permit may still apply). Each district plan sets its own list, so check the Kensington plan before you buy a house you plan to change.

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.

Kensington itself is a small area with few sales, so neighbourhood averages swing a lot from month to month. For a new condo, ask for the current price list and the deposit schedule of each building rather than relying on an area average; we can send both.

Getting around

Kensington is one of the easiest places in the city to live without a car. The TTC 510 Spadina streetcar runs along the eastern edge between Spadina station (Line 1 and Line 2) and Union Station, the 506 College streetcar runs along the north edge and the 505 Dundas along the south. Line 1's St Patrick and Queen's Park stations are a short walk east along Dundas and College.

The Ontario Line, now under construction, will have a Chinatown station near Queen Street and Spadina Avenue, a short walk south of the Market. Metrolinx has not published an opening date.

Driving is slow on the narrow market streets, and many older houses have no parking. The Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway are reached through downtown.

Schools and universities

Public schools are run by the Toronto District School Board and Catholic schools by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. School boundaries change, so check a specific address with the TDSB school locator or the TCDSB school locator before you buy.

The University of Toronto's St. George campus and OCAD University are both within walking distance, which keeps demand for rentals steady near the Market.

Parks and daily life

Bellevue Square Park is the Market's own green space, with a playground. Alexandra Park is to the south-west, Grange Park (behind the Art Gallery of Ontario) is a few minutes east, and Trinity Bellwoods Park on Queen West is a short streetcar or bike ride away.

Day to day, Kensington means independent grocers, bakeries, cheese and fish shops, vintage clothing and cafés, with Chinatown along Spadina next door. It is lively and busy, especially on weekends; buyers who want quiet streets usually look at condos on the edges rather than in the market core.

Jobs nearby

Kensington sits beside some of the largest employers in the city: the University of Toronto, the hospitals along University Avenue and Toronto Western Hospital at Bathurst and Dundas. The Financial District is a short transit ride south-east. The City's TOcore downtown plan counts more than 500,000 jobs downtown, Canada's largest employment cluster.

Who Kensington suits

• Students, graduate students and hospital or university staff who want to walk to work.
• First-time buyers looking at a one-bedroom or two-bedroom condo on the edge of the Market, who can use the new first-time buyer tax relief described below.
• Investors who want steady rental demand from the universities and hospitals, and who are comfortable with a smaller suite.
• It suits families who need a yard and parking less well, unless they buy one of the older houses inside the district.

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.