On a day that saw stock indices tumble around the world, a pair of real estate reports released Thursday offer snapshots of one market that has been significantly more robust.

Condominium sales in Toronto in the second quarter of 2011 topped the previous record set in the same time frame in 2007 by 35%, according to Urbanation, a condo market research group.

The upswing coincides with a 23% increase in the home resale market in July 2011 over July 2010, according to numbers from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).

"At the time [2010], we were looking down the barrel of interest rate hikes, changing to lending guidelines, and we had some misconceptions about the HST," said Jason Mercer, senior manager of market analysis for the TREB. "You saw a lot of buyers on the sidelines, and I think as we moved through the fall and winter of last year and then into 2011 we saw that confidence come back in the homeownership market."