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Average Condo price in Toronto hits $361,000
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| feelgood |
LINK
Last year’s record pace of condo construction is starting to be felt across the GTA, with listings up 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.
Sales, on the other hand, were up by just 2 per cent over the same period as condo buyers appear to be taking more of a wait-and-see attitude, hopeful that an increase in supply could start pushing prices down, some realtors say.
The average selling price of a GTA condo was up 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 — $334,952 compared to $322,857 year over year, according to statistics from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB.)
But prices downtown, where the vast majority of construction and sales occurred, hit $360,892 in the first three months of 2012, up from $348,779 a year ago.
That’s a far cry from the 10 per cent price jump seen in house prices during the same period, largely because of an unusual shortage of inventory that has been fuelling bidding wars and driving up prices.
Things are much different in the condo sector where downtown realtors say they are seeing fewer bidding wars for condos as more supply comes on the market, with the exception of a few high-demand areas where inventory remains low, such as the St. Lawrence Market area.
In fact, investors trying to sell their units in newer, higher-priced condo towers seem to be having a more difficult time just since January, said realtor Andrew la Fleur who specializes in the downtown condo market.
“I think the greatest fear underlying this whole condo boom is affordability. If units get too expensive, people will just stop buying them — no matter how beautiful they are or what an investor paid for them three years ago,” says la Fleur.
Since March of 2011, the so-called sales to listings ratio — a key real estate barometer for determining whether it’s a seller’s or buyer’s market – has gone from 49 per cent to 40 per cent. Thirty per cent is considered a buyer’s market.
While there is still lots of demand for downtown condos where you don’t need a car, buyers seem less willing to get involved in bidding wars, says realtor Mark Savel.
“There are some buyers who think that with the amount that’s being built right now, there will be more supply than demand. But I tell them a lot of those units have been sold already — it’s not like developers are just putting up vacant units.
“I’m still seeing a lot of demand for downtown so I tell them I think the market will remain pretty balanced.”
Meanwhile Wednesday, a condo poll by TD Canada Trust found that 81 per cent of condo buyers in Toronto worry about being able to afford their mortgage payments.
Yet they are more willing than any other Canadian condo dwellers to pay the highest monthly maintenance fees — 17 per cent said they’d pay more than $600 per month, compared to 10 per cent nationally — for the convenience of living near transit and other amenities.
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Cant wait for this bubble to go POP! |
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| jchung52 |
| quote: | Originally posted by feelgood
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Cant wait for this bubble to go POP! |
That's what I'm wondering.. At what point will too much be too much. The mass transit system is about to crumble, traffic is hell, the mayor's office is wishy washy. How many more people can the dtown core hold? 100,200,300,500k?? |
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| gilboman |
| quote: | Originally posted by jchung52
That's what I'm wondering.. At what point will too much be too much. The mass transit system is about to crumble, traffic is hell, the mayor's office is wishy washy. How many more people can the dtown core hold? 100,200,300,500k?? |
Actually, a lot more. With higher gas prices, expensive homes in suburbs, long commute times, it will only create a repatriation of population to the downtown core. |
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| Endlesswave |
| quote: | Originally posted by feelgood
LINK
Last year’s record pace of condo construction is starting to be felt across the GTA, with listings up 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.
Sales, on the other hand, were up by just 2 per cent over the same period as condo buyers appear to be taking more of a wait-and-see attitude, hopeful that an increase in supply could start pushing prices down, some realtors say.
The average selling price of a GTA condo was up 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 — $334,952 compared to $322,857 year over year, according to statistics from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB.)
But prices downtown, where the vast majority of construction and sales occurred, hit $360,892 in the first three months of 2012, up from $348,779 a year ago.
That’s a far cry from the 10 per cent price jump seen in house prices during the same period, largely because of an unusual shortage of inventory that has been fuelling bidding wars and driving up prices.
Things are much different in the condo sector where downtown realtors say they are seeing fewer bidding wars for condos as more supply comes on the market, with the exception of a few high-demand areas where inventory remains low, such as the St. Lawrence Market area.
In fact, investors trying to sell their units in newer, higher-priced condo towers seem to be having a more difficult time just since January, said realtor Andrew la Fleur who specializes in the downtown condo market.
“I think the greatest fear underlying this whole condo boom is affordability. If units get too expensive, people will just stop buying them — no matter how beautiful they are or what an investor paid for them three years ago,” says la Fleur.
Since March of 2011, the so-called sales to listings ratio — a key real estate barometer for determining whether it’s a seller’s or buyer’s market – has gone from 49 per cent to 40 per cent. Thirty per cent is considered a buyer’s market.
While there is still lots of demand for downtown condos where you don’t need a car, buyers seem less willing to get involved in bidding wars, says realtor Mark Savel.
“There are some buyers who think that with the amount that’s being built right now, there will be more supply than demand. But I tell them a lot of those units have been sold already — it’s not like developers are just putting up vacant units.
“I’m still seeing a lot of demand for downtown so I tell them I think the market will remain pretty balanced.”
Meanwhile Wednesday, a condo poll by TD Canada Trust found that 81 per cent of condo buyers in Toronto worry about being able to afford their mortgage payments.
Yet they are more willing than any other Canadian condo dwellers to pay the highest monthly maintenance fees — 17 per cent said they’d pay more than $600 per month, compared to 10 per cent nationally — for the convenience of living near transit and other amenities.
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Cant wait for this bubble to go POP! |
Yep. It's when I am thinking to pick something up. :thepirate |
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| geroin |
| quote: | Originally posted by feelgood
Cant wait for this bubble to go POP! |
we have the most condos being built compared to any other city in north america, even more than in nyc |
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| Dior Homme |
| quote: | Originally posted by geroin
we have the most condos being built compared to any other city in north america, even more than in nyc |
Well duh, only because the land they have is is already used up.
Toronto has approximately 137 (as of last year) high rise building developments under way. And with the revised building code of no limit to residential zoning heights, residential buildings can be as high as they want. |
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| Dior Homme |
| 5 more got approved. :haha: |
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| geroin |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dior Homme
Well duh, only because the land they have is is already used up.
Toronto has approximately 137 (as of last year) high rise building developments under way. And with the revised building code of no limit to residential zoning heights, residential buildings can be as high as they want. |
this is disaster waiting to happen, who's to blame for all this? adam vaughan? |
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| Dior Homme |
my theory with condos is that all these condos are being built. They will soon be all occupied by residents of the area and because toronto is a booming multi-cultural city, international property buyers across the world would like to purchase a condo here for their kids studying or some .
okay so traffic is bull going from the outside into toronto, fine. but if you will notice during the day traffic is still pretty bad. soon enough because people (if they dont want to be relegated to moving out in the burbs) will purchase a condo in downtown Condoronto and work outside the city, thus increasing traffic both ways during rush hour. imagine going either way to Condoroto and out of they city in traffic madness.
if i had one wish, it would have been at least 3 lane roads in the the city and wider on and off ramps to relieve bottleneck. that is what kills us, not he gardiner or capacity of gardiner. |
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| Dior Homme |
| the condos we have arent even ing nice looking! |
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| geroin |
| it's already pretty pointless driving in the city during the day, i wonder what's going to happen when people start moving into condos in the city that's already struggling with ty public transportation and heavy traffic. Do they even take that into consideration or none of them actually give a ? |
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| feelgood |
| quote: | Originally posted by geroin
this is disaster waiting to happen, who's to blame for all this? adam vaughan? |
Blame uneducated foreign investment. Development is good, but not doing enough research and not realizing the saturation point of the market is bad news bears.
These investors are in for a rude awakening when they are unable to get back the money they paid. |
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