With lease prices dropping and a surplus of new listings hitting the market in recent months, we've been hearing a lot of expert advice about the benefits of renting over buying a condo in the Toronto area.

While it can be argued that renting is smarter in terms of immediate costs amid the ongoing pandemic, the fact remains that you can only really make a profit off of something you own.

Those who bought units in the city ten years ago can testify to this after watching their investments more than double by the end of last year. But not all real estate markets are equal.

Condos have been appreciating at faster rates in some GTA neighbourhoods than others over the past year, as sales data from 2020 shows, particularly in neighbourhoods where prices on condos were lower-than-average to begin with.

Realtor and data analyst John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty, took an in-depth look at this and other key trends in his recently-released January 2021 Move Smartly Report.

"The search for affordability dominated our condo list," wrote Pasalis in a blog post ranking "condominium neighbourhoods within the Toronto and GTA area that have performed well in terms of home price appreciation during 2020."

"The median price for condos in Toronto and the GTA in 2020 was $580,000," notes Pasalis. "Nine out of the top ten neighbourhoods had a median price at or below the GTA median."

Below, as measured by the highest year-over-year change in median prices, are the fastest-appreciating neighbourhoods for condos in Toronto, courtesy of Pasalis and Realosophy.

"The post lockdown rebound in the condo market was far softer than what we saw for houses, with the suburban condo market performing slightly better than the downtown condo market," writes Pasalis in his January 2021 report.

"But as noted above, during the last six weeks of 2020, we saw a significant rebound in interest from condo investors looking to capitalize on the decline in condo prices with the hope that the rental and resale market will rebound in the near future."

Neither Pasalis nor any non-clairvoyant realtor can say what will happen from here with the condo sales market, but many believe it will hinge on what happens with rent trends.

"If the rental market, both inventory levels and rents, remains stable (i.e., avoiding declines) then I expect investor demand to continue into 2021, effectively setting a floor on resale condo prices," says Pasalis.

"But if the rental market continues to soften, I suspect this may push investors back to the sidelines."