Condo maintenance fees are up and it's scaring away buyers, realtors say

“They get a number set in their mind and they’ll stick to that number so tightly that it becomes a detriment,” he said.

In a recent analysis, Canadian real estate platform Wahi looked at condo fees of one-bedroom units that sold in Toronto in 2025. Compared to its 2024 ranking, the data shows that maintenance fees for those units increased an average of 3.7 per cent over the year.

But if you’re trying to sell, experts believe if you highlight your building’s unique strengths and perks, these fees won’t look like a red flag to buyers.

How condo fees are calculated

Realtor Kenan Yousef said monthly maintenance fees are a large concern for buyers when determining how affordable a unit is to buy.

“They’re shopping around with a monthly budget in mind,” he said.

Typically tied to a unit’s square footage, condo maintenance fees are expenses usually put toward covering a building’s amenities, utilities and repairs, but the scope varies from building to building, Yousef said.

Larger units with luxury amenities — a pool, underground parking, around-the-clock security — will typically have higher fees than smaller units in the same building or in other buildings with more basic amenities, said Coffey. These fees are overseen by a building’s condo corporation, the legal entity that governs how condo fees and a building’s reserve fund is spent.

A unit’s resale potential ultimately comes down to the amenities available and how the unit stacks up to similar ones nearby, said Coffey, adding boutique units and older buildings can stand out due to their special interiors or larger sizes, despite potentially higher fees.

“You need to lean into your uniqueness because the cost of having that unique boutique building … is that your fees are going to be a little bit higher,” Coffey said.

“In a lot of ways that is a better thing because you’re not competing against a lot of units that are exactly the same as yours.”

Why buyers shouldn’t shy from high fees

Torontonians have taken to Reddit to express their frustration with high condo fees. One user, who bought a detached house, wrote: “Why  spend extra money on the condo fees when I could put it towards a mortgage.”

“I think the certainty is better,” another user said about the fees.

But Coffey says prospective buyers should exercise caution when considering units with exceptionally low maintenance fees as these might not cover the amenities or perks some buyers may be looking for. Coffey also suggested buyers look at the condo’s certificate before buying to learn more about the building’s financial health.

He said nominal fees could mean a condo building has an “anemic reserve fund” — a fund condo corporations can pull from for repairs and other expenses — that could lead to extra costs down the line through larger fee increases or a special assessment.

“If you happen to be selling during that time when you have that special assessment, you’re gonna scare many buyers away,” Coffey warned.

Special assessments are one-time fees condo corporations can charge owners to cover budget shortfalls, according to the Condominium Authority of Ontario, a consumer protection non-profit with ties to the province’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.

Both maintenance and special assessment fees are the legal obligation of unit owners, said Aleks Dhefto with the Condominium Authority of Ontario.

“Too high or too low is not necessarily a red flag on its own,” he said of maintenance fees. “It’s a little bit nuanced.” 

Buyers should be less worried about how costly a condo fee is, and instead focus on the broader financial health of the condo corporation and its reserve fund, said Dhefto, adding that special assessment fees can get “disastrously big” and balloon into much more than what buyers bargained for.

The best way to prevent this is to get involved with the condo corporation.

“If you think something is going wrong, join the board and make that change early on because by the time the special assessment has happened, it’s too late.”