Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

Toronto condos have become an increasingly attractive home ownership option for many people. Whether you’re a young couple looking for affordable housing, or a retired couple wanting to downsize because their kids have moved out, there is likely a condo for sale to fit your needs. A condo is a viable option for anyone who wants to own a home without the worry of repairs, maintenance and dreaded chores like snow shoveling. Condos require little work, and are maintained by the association, so the condo owner does not have to be concerned with certain maintenance activities.

As well, many people are turning away from the single-family home market and becoming more interested in the condominium market. There are three main reasons why condos are gaining such popularity: they are economical, convenient, and easy to maintain.

1. Economical. In general, condos cost less than traditional single-family homes. Some experts estimate condos are as much as 20% cheaper than their single-family home counterparts. Within recent years, such value has given a real boost to condo sales.

Condos will increase your buying power. Condos usually sell for 20 to 30% less than similar detached homes, so it is an ideal option for a first time buyer with a limited budget. You will have all the luxury of owning your own home, but will be able to share the cost of upkeep on the building. For most buyers the choice is to buy a condo that meets their living needs or continue to rent.

Condos usually cost less to maintain than detached homes. The replacement cost of a high rise roof may be more in absolute terms than replacing the roof of a detached single-family home, but the cost per owner should be less. Depending on the cost of the repair, there should be enough money from the association fees that can cover the repair without any additional cost.

2. Convenience. Condo living can be extremely convenient. Typically, condos are strategically built near the heart of a city, where most business and entertainment establishments are located. People are choosing to forego the commute required by suburban living, opting instead to centre themselves in the city. By avoiding a long drive or train ride into work, condo owners enjoy more leisure time and a reduced-stress lifestyle.

Condos have amenities that some people could not otherwise afford, such as swimming pools or tennis courts, their own community centre with exercise rooms and much more.

3. Easy to maintain. Condos are also popular because they require little effort toward maintenance. Homeowners know that they are responsible for all of the upkeep and repairs that are associated with keeping a house in good shape. On the other hand, condo owners typically don’t have to worry so much about matters of upkeep or liability. Condos are typically managed by a board that makes decisions regarding repairs and other maintenance issues. With condos, taking care of your property is a very hands-off experience that usually involves the periodic paying of fees and the choice to participate, if desired, in regularly-scheduled, condominium board meetings.

Condos are ideal homes for first-time buyers, small families or people without children, retired couples and vacationers. While a condo can be the first step on the ownership ladder, it is often a good stand-alone investment in real estate. If the above qualities are appealing to you, you should learn more about the condominium market in your area.

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Ottawa Business Journal

The Canadian real estate market will be shielded in 2009 by the more cautious behaviour exhibited by industry players compared to those in the market south of the border, with Vancouver ranked as the city to watch for real estate investment, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers and Urban Land Institute report.

The report said it’s currently a “moderately good time” to sell property, with western provinces boasting the strongest growth trends and lowest vacancies in North America.

“U.S. housing woes haven’t extended to Canada, where banks and regulators have managed the excessive mortgage lending practices of our neighbours to the south,” said PwC partner Frank Magliocco in a statement. “Property markets, including housing, track at or near equilibrium, with high occupancies and controlled development. We always get caught up in U.S. trends, but given our strong fundamentals they shouldn’t affect us to the same magnitude.”

The percentage of firms who responded to the survey who said they had good prospects for profitability remains high, with 35.8% saying they had “very good” prospects and 22.4% saying they had “excellent” opportunities for profitability. However, the report noted that those numbers are lower than last year, when 38.5% said they had “very good” prospects while 23.8% said opportunities were “excellent.”

Meanwhile, while credit tightness will likely mean it will cost more to get financing even in Canada, the report said capital has “remained disciplined” and should steady in 2009.

“In fact, Canada ranks third in the world – preceded by Asia Pacific and the Middle East – for a moderate to high increase in the availability of capital for real estate,” said Chris Potter, who is also a PwC partner.

The report said industrial real estate will be the strongest category next year, although all sectors will show strength, including housing. However, while the home sale market will hold steady, new housing development is expected to cool, the study noted.

Across Canada’s top real estate markets, Vancouver was named as the highest-rated city for 2009, with Calgary and Edmonton also receiving high ratings for “investment prospects, development and for-sale housing.” The report also named Ottawa as one of the markets with a fairly strong score.

Out east, however, the property markets appear to be weak, with the report warning investors to be cautious when looking into the Maritime markets, except if they are “knowledgeable about the specific centres in this area.”

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By Virginia Galt - Globe and Mail

The price of new homes in Canada increased by 2.1% in September on a year-over-year basis, a slower pace than the 2.3% advance in August but still slightly ahead of economists’ expectations.

On a monthly basis, new housing prices rose a bare 0.1% between August and September.

However, the bloom was off in the Edmonton and Calgary housing markets.

“Edmonton recorded a 12-month drop of 5.8%, which was the largest annual decline since July, 1985, while prices in Calgary declined 1.2%,” Statistics Canada reported Monday.

The Canadian real estate market will be shielded in 2009 by the more cautious behaviour exhibited by industry players compared to those in the market south of the border, with Vancouver ranked as the city to watch for real estate investment, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers and Urban Land Institute report.

The report said it’s currently a “moderately good time” to sell property, with western provinces boasting the strongest growth trends and lowest vacancies in North America.

“U.S. housing woes haven’t extended to Canada, where banks and regulators have managed the excessive mortgage lending practices of our neighbours to the south,” said PwC partner Frank Magliocco in a statement. “Property markets, including housing, track at or near equilibrium, with high occupancies and controlled development. We always get caught up in U.S. trends, but given our strong fundamentals they shouldn’t affect us to the same magnitude.”

The percentage of firms who responded to the survey who said they had good prospects for profitability remains high, with 35.8% saying they had “very good” prospects and 22.4% saying they had “excellent” opportunities for profitability. However, the report noted that those numbers are lower than last year, when 38.5% said they had “very good” prospects while 23.8% said opportunities were “excellent.”

Meanwhile, while credit tightness will likely mean it will cost more to get financing even in Canada, the report said capital has “remained disciplined” and should steady in 2009.

“In fact, Canada ranks third in the world for a moderate to high increase in the availability of capital for real estate,” said Chris Potter, who is also a PwC partner.

The report said industrial real estate will be the strongest category next year, although all sectors will show strength, including housing. However, while the home sale market will hold steady, new housing development is expected to cool, the study noted.

Across Canada’s top real estate markets, Vancouver was named as the highest-rated city for 2009, with Calgary and Edmonton also receiving high ratings for “investment prospects, development and for-sale housing.” The report also named Ottawa as one of the markets with a fairly strong score.

Out east, however, the property markets appear to be weak, with the report warning investors to be cautious when looking into the Maritime markets, except if they are “knowledgeable about the specific centres in this area.”

“In Saskatoon, the year-over-year increase was 5.5%, once again confirming a trend of deceleration in this city. One a month-over-month basis, new housing prices decreased 2.1% as Saskatoon builders continued to report difficult market conditions,” Statscan said.

On the West Coast, the 12-month increase for Vancouver was 1.4% and in Victoria, contractors’ selling prices increased 0.2% year-over-year, up from a 0.3% decline in August. New home prices were 4.3% higher in Ottawa-Gatineau, and 3% higher in Toronto and Oshawa, Ont.

In Quebec, new home prices were up 6.1%, while Montreal prices increased by 4.8%.

Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter had expected that, overall, new home prices would moderate to 2% year over year. He had suggested, as well, that new housing starts in October might slip below the 200,000 mark “as building permits are fading and builders have got to react to the steep slowdown in sales at some point.”

However, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Monday that housing starts remained relatively strong, declining by 3.1% to 211,800 units in October from 218,600 in September.

“Housing starts remained strong in October and are consistent with our new home construction forecast for 2008,” Bob Dugan, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. economist Bob Dugan said in releasing the October figures.

“The slight decrease in housing starts is the result of declines in both single-detached and multiple starts in Ontario,” Mr. Dugan said.

For the first 10 months of 2008, actual starts in the rural and urban areas combined were down an estimated 1.6% from the same period last year.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts was down 4.2% in October from the previous month. The biggest drop was in the number of starts for multiple-dwelling units, down 6% to 115,300. Urban single starts were down 1.1% to 69,300 in October.

Housing starts in urban centres were up in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, but down in British Columbia, the Prairies and Ontario.

Royal Bank of Canada economist Paul Ferley said in a research note that expectations had been for a “more pronounced drop” in overall housing starts across Canada.

The month-over-month decline is not surprising, given “the deteriorating housing affordability that commenced last year,” Mr. Ferley said, although the pace of the decline still remains “surprisingly muted.”

However, he added, tight credit conditions are expected to put “downward pressure on new construction through next year, with starts expected to average close to 180,000 in 2009.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960