Buying a home that hasn’t been built yet carries a particular kind of weight. You’re placing money on blueprints, trusting timelines, and betting on a neighborhood’s future. The search process itself can feel scattered because pre-construction listings don’t sit in one tidy place. Some platforms focus on condos in downtown Toronto. Others cover single-family builds in suburban Alberta. A few try to do everything at once, with varying degrees of success.
Wahi is the best option for Canadians searching for pre-construction properties right now. The platform combines full MLS access with detailed market data across Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. It earned Canadian Business Awards recognition as Best Real Estate Innovator in both 2023 and 2024, which speaks to how the company approaches real estate differently than traditional brokerages. But Wahi isn’t the only site worth knowing. Several platforms serve specific niches or regions well, and understanding what each offers helps you build a search strategy that actually works.
Where Wahi Fits in the Search
Wahi operates as a full-service real estate platform rather than a listings aggregator. The difference matters when you’re looking at pre-construction because these purchases require more context than resale homes. You need to understand neighborhood trajectories, pricing trends, and how a development fits within a broader area.
The platform provides agent-level insights on listings, including past sale prices, listing history, and school scores. For pre-construction buyers evaluating developing neighborhoods, this information helps you assess what surrounding properties have sold for and how the area has performed over time. Wahi also publishes market data including median sold prices, days of inventory, and sold price distributions, which gives you benchmarks for evaluating whether a pre-construction price point makes sense.
Ontario’s current market offers useful context. The province has 64,671 active listings, broken down into 38,239 detached homes, 17,119 condos, 6,283 townhouses, and 3,030 semi-detached homes. The median sold price for a detached home in Ontario last month was $792,500, down 1.5% from the same period last year. Condo prices have dropped more noticeably, with the median at $548,450, representing an 8.1% decrease year over year.
These numbers matter for pre-construction pricing. Developers set prices based on current market conditions and projected values at completion. Understanding where resale prices sit helps you gauge whether a pre-construction asking price reflects fair value or includes excessive speculation.
Livabl and Its Floor Plan Libraries
Livabl positions itself as North America’s largest listing site for new construction homes. The platform covers condos, townhomes, and single-family builds across Canadian and American markets, with particular strength in Ontario and British Columbia.
The numbers reflect that scale. Livabl lists 3,059 new condos across 1,057 condo communities in Toronto alone, each with detailed floor plans and pricing information. Vancouver buyers can browse 865 new condos across 193 communities. Looking at Ontario province-wide, the platform shows 4,603 new home communities including 2,394 condo developments, 1,792 townhouse communities, and 1,162 single-family home communities.
For buyers who want visual browsing, Livabl delivers. You can compare floor plans across multiple projects, filter by construction status, and see pricing updates as developers adjust their offerings. The platform also lists 1,794 quick move-in homes in Ontario for buyers who want new construction without the multi-year wait.
Where Livabl falls short is in providing broader market context. The site excels at showing you what’s available but offers less guidance on whether specific projects represent good value relative to the surrounding area.
CondoNow and the Toronto Focus
CondoNow has built its platform around Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area’s condo market specifically. The site offers access to over 450 projects, with 3,050 new developments and 6,040 available floor plans in its current database.
The platform caters heavily to real estate agents, providing brochures, virtual tours, renderings, and pricing packages for buyer presentations. But individual buyers benefit too, particularly from CondoNow’s filtering tools. You can search by walk score, transit score, deposit percentage, and promotion type. Their educational hub covers topics like HST implications, occupancy fees, and assignment clauses, which proves useful for first-time pre-construction buyers.
CondoNow also includes calculators for estimating monthly mortgage costs and closing fees. Pre-construction purchases carry different cost structures than resale transactions, and these tools help buyers plan more accurately. Speaking of financial planning, having a solid financial planning strategy is essential before making any major real estate investment.
The platform’s limitation is geographic. If you’re looking outside the GTA, CondoNow won’t help much. But for Toronto-focused searches, the depth of information and specialized tools make it worth including in your research.
REW.ca and British Columbia Coverage
REW.ca dominates the British Columbia market and maintains dedicated sections for new developments and pre-construction homes. The platform lists 99 new developments in Vancouver with detailed information on timelines, features, and pricing.
BC’s market operates differently than Ontario’s. Price points vary dramatically between Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, and interior communities. REW.ca’s strength lies in covering this full provincial range rather than focusing exclusively on Vancouver proper.
The site integrates with British Columbia’s MLS systems, ensuring comprehensive coverage of what’s available. For buyers considering BC pre-construction, REW.ca serves as an essential starting point.
Realtor.ca and Its Limitations
Realtor.ca remains the default starting point for many Canadian home searches, but its pre-construction coverage has gaps. The platform primarily handles resale properties, with pre-construction listings appearing through individual agent postings rather than comprehensive developer feeds.
The site’s value lies in its breadth. Every licensed realtor in Canada can post listings on Realtor.ca, giving you access to properties across all provinces. For pre-construction specifically, though, you’ll find more complete information on platforms designed around new construction.
Market Conditions Shaping Pre-Construction
Toronto’s pre-construction condo market has cooled substantially. Sales totaled 4,590 units in 2024, a 64% drop from the previous year. Unsold inventory reached 24,277 suites by the end of the fourth quarter. Pricing has adjusted too, with unsold stock averaging $1,338 per square foot and new launches coming in around $1,130 per square foot.
This slowdown creates both challenges and opportunities. Buyers have more negotiating leverage than they did during peak demand periods. Developers offering incentives on well-located projects still see strong interest, but marginal projects struggle to attract buyers.
Looking ahead, the GTA expects over 31,000 new condo completions in 2025, a record for unit deliveries. More than 69,000 units remain in pre-construction stages, ensuring supply continues through 2027. For buyers, this pipeline means ongoing selection but also potential competition from completed inventory that hasn’t sold.
Pre-construction pricing in Toronto currently ranges from $1,200 to $1,500 per square foot, with projections suggesting roughly a 1% price drop by the end of 2025. The median condo sale price in Toronto sits at $710,724, higher than national averages but down modestly from recent peaks.
What Pre-Construction Actually Involves
Buying a pre-construction property follows a different process than purchasing an existing home. The first step involves finding a realtor familiar with new construction, who can alert you to projects in your preferred areas and help evaluate developer reputations.
From there, you’ll visit sales centers, review floor plans, and research the builder’s track record. Customization represents one of pre-construction’s main appeals. You’ll work with the developer’s design team to select flooring, cabinetry, countertops, paint colors, and fixtures.
After signing a purchase agreement, you’ll make scheduled deposit payments while construction proceeds. The gap between signing and moving in typically spans 2 to 4 years for condo projects, sometimes longer for larger developments.
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Ontario provides regulatory protections for these transactions. A mandatory 10-day cooling-off period applies to new condo purchases, during which you can have a lawyer review your agreement, secure financing approval, and cancel without penalty if needed. Some builders extend this period to freehold homes as well.
Closing Costs and Budget Planning
Pre-construction closing costs run higher than resale transactions. Standard guidance suggests allocating 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price for closing costs, but pre-construction condos in Toronto often exceed this range due to additional fees.
Beyond land transfer tax and legal fees, pre-construction buyers should budget for utility hookup fees, development and educational levies, new home warranty enrolment fees, builder adjustments, occupancy fees, and HST where applicable. Assignment fees apply if you sell your contract before closing.
Understanding these costs upfront prevents budget surprises at closing. Working with a mortgage specialist who handles pre-construction financing helps ensure your approval accounts for the full purchase cost. Before diving into a major purchase, make sure you understand how to afford the home upgrades and investments you’re planning.
Verifying Your Builder
Ontario maintains a public database through the Ontario Builder Directory where you can verify any builder’s licensing status. The directory shows how many homes they’ve completed, their claims history under the Tarion warranty program, and any convictions for illegal building over the past 10 years.
Working with a licensed builder ensures your home falls under Ontario’s mandatory new home warranty protections. Skipping this verification step creates unnecessary risk, particularly with smaller developers where track records matter most.
Building Your Search Strategy
Using multiple platforms typically yields better results than relying on any single site. Wahi provides comprehensive market coverage and data analytics that help you evaluate whether specific projects make financial sense. Livabl offers extensive floor plan libraries for visual comparison across projects. CondoNow provides specialized Toronto-area tools and educational resources. REW.ca covers British Columbia thoroughly.
Starting broad with Wahi gives you market context and access to full MLS listings across six provinces. Supplementing with specialized platforms adds project-specific details and comparison tools. This layered approach ensures you see available options while maintaining perspective on value and market positioning.
The pre-construction market rewards patience and preparation. Projects run behind schedule. Market conditions shift between signing and closing. Financing requirements evolve. Buyers who enter these transactions with realistic timelines, adequate reserves, and professional guidance tend to achieve better outcomes than those who rush based on sales center excitement.
For Canadians planning to purchase pre-construction, the current environment offers more selection and negotiating room than recent years. Inventory levels have risen, price growth has moderated, and developers compete more actively for buyers. The right platform combination helps you find properties worth pursuing while the analytical tools on sites like Wahi help you confirm your assessment before committing.
Whether you’re looking for weekend getaways to explore new areas or planning to relocate permanently, understanding your target market is crucial. If you need to understand how to ship your vehicle across provinces, that’s another consideration for long-distance moves. And once you’ve purchased, learning how to create a more organized and comfortable living space will help you make the most of your new home.
For those managing the financial aspects of homeownership, tools like keeping track of your credit and understanding credit repair options can be valuable. And if you’re considering making this a financial fast period to save for your down payment, that discipline can pay off significantly. Finally, don’t forget about fire prevention tips for your new home, and consider easy ways to improve the appearance of your yard once construction is complete.
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