Tag Archives: baby boom
Luxury Living: The glam slam
National Post
Is the luxury homes market in the GTA coming back? There are many who say it never really went away.
Granted, projects offering suites at the lower range of the luxury scale – perhaps those priced at $850 to $950 a square foot – went through some doldrums. But according to companies such as RealNet Canada, which tracks the condo market, luxury condos above $1,000 a foot always sell at a relatively steady pace despite economic ups and downs.
“If you compare lower-end luxury sales with more modestly priced suites they both follow almost parallel courses,” says RealNet president George Carras. “When the condo market is down overall, so are those suites below about $950 a square foot.
“But for the super-luxury class, the people who have the money to afford them make their buying decision in good times and bad. It all depends on when they want to make a move.”
If, however, the state of your finances leaves you well below that super-rich class, there is indeed good news.
All forms of luxury homes in the GTA have come back with a rush. The Toronto area has probably never seen such a range of choice. Need a townhouse? Try the Townhomes of Lytton Park on Avenue Road south of Lawrence or Ancroft Place in South Rosedale just over the Sherbourne Street bridge.
How about a boutique mid-rise, which combines Yorkville’s rich history with a clean contemporary look? Zinc Developments Group has Hazelton 36. It incorporates the façade of the old St. Basil’s School into a sleek new terraced design.
For those who long for a life that almost makes you believe you are next to a highland salmon stream but still close enough to walk to the splendid boutiques, specialty stores and cafés of Bloor West Village, there is Riverhouse at The Old Mill.
How about a penthouse high above King Street West’s celebrated theatre and entertainment district? The new tower at 8 Mercer Street can make that dream come true, with its three levels of large two-plus-den and three-bedroom penthouses.
But city life is not everyone’s cup of tea. There are those whose idea of ultimate luxury is a large home on a 100-foot lot within a chip shot of a world-class golf course. They might find that dream home at the Glenbourne Custom Estate Collection right across from the Angus Glen course in Markham.
“It is really quite exciting,” says Barry Lyon of Barry Lyon Consulting. “Less than a decade ago, if you wanted a luxury condo, you went to one of the projects in Yorkville. Now there are choices all across the GTA…”
“Builders have recognized that people want choice; they want luxury homes that allow them to stay in neighbourhoods they love or to move to neighbourhoods that offer them what they consider the perfect lifestyle for their stage of life.”
That lifestyle might include a throwback to Manhattan in the 1920s through the 1950s when anyone who was anyone lived in a suite atop a five-star hotel. Central Toronto now boasts at least half a dozen of those.
It might still include a suite larger than most suburban homes, with a terrace almost large enough for a tennis court in the heart of Bloor Street’s glittering shopping district. Yes, we have those. In fact we even have a range of choices.
The theatre district, the financial core, the entertainment district, Lytton Park, Lawrence Park even the fringes of Forest Hill and Rosedale offer superb luxury suites and homes.
So, what is driving this spring and summer’s market? How have we managed to go from doldrums to boom times in a matter of months?
Experts such as Mr. Lyon and Jimmy Malloy of Chestnut Park Real Estate, recognized as one of the city’s top agents, say four factors are at play.
The first is the demands of simple demographics. Both point out that men and women on the leading edge of the Baby Boom have had to put on hold, for nearly two years, plans to downsize their existing domestic arrangements and launch themselves into a more carefree pre-retirement and retirement lifestyle.
“The kids are gone; the house is too big for them alone and they want to start a new life in the home of their dreams and in an area they love,” says Mr. Lyon. “But the recession has kept those plans at bay for the past 18 months to two years.”
The second factor is the resurgence of the resale market. The Toronto Real Estate Board says the first quarter of this year was the best on record, with 22,418 homes changing hands. New listings were up 42% from the same period last year and average home prices climbed every month.
“What this meant was that people saw they could once again easily sell existing homes – and get top dollar for them,” says Mr. Malloy. The ability to sell an existing home is absolutely crucial if you are planning to spend upwards of $1-million on a new luxury condo, he adds.
The third factor at play is the upswing in financial markets.
Men and women who saw recession-driven, steep declines in the value of their savings were in no mood to contemplate spending on anything except the basics, says Mr. Lyon.
“But now we have the markets rebounding … Canada weathered the recession better than any other industrial nation and we again have confidence in the future,” he says.
Not just confidence in Canada but in the future of the GTA as well. All predictions suggest the area will continue to grow through immigration by 100,000 new people a year. All of them will be looking for a place to live.
Which brings us to the fourth factor – and that is something peculiar to the luxury market. As Mr. Lyon and Mr. Molloy explain it, luxury condo buyers are picky and prudent. They prefer to buy when they can finally see what they are getting.
That means the brisk traffic at luxury project presentation centres starts when the building begins to rise from the ground.
“Simply put, they want to see what they are getting for their money,” says Mr. Lyon.
That is why penthouse suites are the last to be released for sale even in moderately priced projects, adds Mr. Malloy.
“Luxury buyers also want to take their time before making a decision,” he adds. “It is not at all uncommon for them to come back and back again with their interior designer in tow, going over every small detail of their suite.”
That said, there may be a fifth factor influencing the luxury market: The ever-expanding range of choice.
“Great cities need diversity,” says Ken Zuckerman of the Zinc Developments Group. His company is creating Hazelton 36, that Yorkville boutique condo that incorporates the 1920s vintage St. Basil’s School. “Not everyone wants to live in the same area or the same kind of building.”
When you get diversity of choice, people who might not otherwise consider moving to a condo see alternatives that perfectly suit their taste and need, he explains.
David Silverberg, director of sales and marketing for Nexxt Development Corp. offers a hearty amen to that thought. Nexxt, in partnership with the Mizrahi Group, is building the freehold Townhomes of Lytton Park at Lytton Boulevard and Avenue Road.
“One of the things that is so exciting about this project is that we are bringing back to Toronto a much-loved form of luxury housing that simply has not been available largely because of land costs and the demand for higher densities,” he says.
“Not everyone wants to live in a condo and not everyone wants to live downtown. When we acquired this site we though it would be perfect for bringing back townhomes – freehold townhomes. If you want a healthy vibrant luxury market and a healthy vibrant city then choice is the key.”
Plans for future launches indicate the GTA has no worries there. Developers large and small have signalled their intention to bring new projects to market this summer. Minto Group, for example, will relaunch the St. Thomas tower at St. Thomas and Charles streets.
Canlight Hall Realty has purchased the 21 townhouses that make up Ancroft Place in South Rosedale and plans to update them and sell them as condos starting around June.
For those longing to remain in their much-loved Lawrence Park neighbourhood near Bayview Avenue south of Eglinton, The Tridel Group has launched Blythwood at Huntington, an elegant, brick-and-stone eight-storey mid-rise overlooking the Sherwood Park Ravine. While two-bedroom suites will start in the mid-$500,000s, larger homes on upper floors, including the penthouses, will have prices well above the million-dollar mark.
“It very much looks like this summer will mark a new and exciting stage in the GTA’s housing market,” says Mr. Malloy. “The range of options in luxury homes is going to be truly impressive.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Park the car permanently
Get out of the traffic and into an easy-living, luxurious downtown condo
Canwest News Service
When the pace of life gets too hectic, some people head for the hills — but not Frank and Lori. This fortysomething couple will soon be shipping out of the picturesque village of Kleinburg and diving straight into the bustle and confusion of downtown Toronto.
For Frank and Lori (who asked that their last name not be used), the move makes perfect sense. He is a partner at an insurance and estate practice near York University, while she teaches school in Mississauga. They bought their current home — a 2,500-square-foot bungalow across from the celebrated McMichael Art Gallery — about 16 years ago. They like it just fine but admit they are rarely there. Instead, they spend an excessive amount of time in their cars, either commuting to work or scurrying downtown to take in their favourite restaurants, films or operas.
“Between business and pleasure, we drive into the city about three to five times a week,” Frank says. “We wanted a lifestyle change, and thought we should get out of our cars and into an area where we could walk to the action. So we started to search for something that could provide us our last move; a spot that would give us all the luxuries but in a setting that didn’t feel like a condo complex.”
Last year, they finally found their dream condo — a spacious 1,600-sq.-ft. unit at 77 Charles, Aspen Ridge Homes’s 15-storey, 47-unit project currently under construction in Yorkville. So much about it is right, says Frank, from the quaintness of the building to the proximity to the University of Toronto, his alma mater, and the many interesting areas to walk their cocker spaniel, Dixie.
There are an abundance of Franks and Loris waiting to put down elegant doormats at a luxury high-rise. Many have put last year’s monetary concerns behind them and are once again putting down hefty deposits in anticipation of their next big, luxurious move.
OK, it hasn’t all been rosy. Last year was a roller coaster ride for real estate, the gloom coinciding with the economy’s demise. “It was definitely challenging — for everyone,” says Howard Tikka, director of marketing, Trump International Hotel & Tower. “We continue to make sales, but at a much slower pace than we have been accustomed to. While the Canadian economy has fared better than most, even those with the capital to make luxury purchases and investments in luxury real estate have scaled back a bit as well,” he says.
“From November ’08 to a couple of weeks into February, we would have weeks where nobody — not even a single soul — would come into the sales office, so that was pretty scary,” recalls Sam Crignano, president of Cityzen Development Group. “You had traffic in the order of 45 to 70 [visitors] a week down to nothing. Some support staff had to get cut. … We were preparing for the worst, and thank God it didn’t happen.”
The market eventually rebounded in spring 2009 and sales offices in the Greater Toronto Area started to see some action from both local and foreign buyers. Within weeks, sales were back on track and developers started feeling relief. In fact, last October Mr. Crignano began construction on three new luxury buildings that are selling fast: Pier 27, comprising 700 units in two towers at the foot of Yonge Street, priced up to $4.6-million; 58-floor L Tower a few blocks north, priced up to $2.6-million; and Oakville’s The Shores, 202 suites and nine town-homes priced to $2.6-million.
“Once people took a look around and realized the Canadian economy and our housing climate were very different from what was happening in the States, when they saw our market was very stable and had solid underpinnings, they were able to get comfortable with making purchasing decisions again and looking at properties and what their options were,” says Mimi Ng, vice-president of marketing for Menkes Development, one of three partners building the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Yorkville.
Boosting the buying frenzy are cranes and construction workers visibly busy behind the hoarding. Many luxury buildings and major hotel brands, such as Trump, Shangri-La and Four Seasons, used 2009 to tout their residences and have now broken ground, with The Ritz-Carlton already topped off and ready for its first occupants by summer.
“A lot of people are scrambling to get new products on the shelf for the early part of 2010 while the world is cautiously optimistic, and people will continue to buy,” predicts Mark Cohen, senior vice-president at The Condo Store Marketing Systems. “As long as borrowing rates remain low, prices remain competitive and the general economy seems to be healthy from a rebound standpoint, people will continue to buy new homes and condos. There’s a guarded sense of optimism for a very good 2010.”
One curiosity that has come to light since the recent boom is that local buyers are outpacing those from overseas. Christene De Gasparis, Aspen Ridge Homes’s marketing director, says many own properties in New York and Muskoka and are selling their large Toronto home for a smaller but equally luxurious pied-a-terre. Robbyn Hayden, sales manager for Living Shangri-La, is delighted by the local interest because “you don’t want to be in an investor-only building.”
Despite the bounce-back, luxury high-rise players are hopeful about 2010. Ben Myers, executive vice-president of Urbanation, says few projects launched in 2009 due to the economy, leaving plenty of inventory left to sell, and he does not expect many new projects to come to the market until the current units are sold. Mr. Myers says the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which kicks in this July, will not make a big impact on luxury buyers “because they are already spending a lot of money in this market.”
Julie Di Lorenzo, co-president of Diamante Development Corp. that is building The Florian, a 21-storey, 90-unit building in Upper Yorkville, says prices will certainly rise due to the dearth of units.
“There aren’t a lot of luxury two,-three-and four-bedroom units out there, period,” she says. “They simply have not been built. Inventory of high-end condos is not available. Yet there are still many, many couples who will be downsizing. That demographic is just starting to influence luxury sales. The first Baby Boomers are just hitting 65 and thinking about their luxury home without stairs to climb and eavestroughs to clean. And now many young families have substantial recreation properties and they prefer [to have] the home in the country and the condo in the city for lifestyle.”
Kind of like Frank and Lori. They may not own a cottage, but they want the lifestyle that goes with luxury high-rise living. Judging by the reactions of their family and long-time neighbours, they will have plenty of company at their new pad.
“One word: envy,” laughs Frank as he describes the reaction when he started telling people of the downtown move. “We’ll have a lot more friends and family coming to visit. We’ll be the cool aunt and uncle — and we’ll get to enjoy all the fun and frolic of Yorkville.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Incoming search terms
Related posts:
- Luxury Toronto Condo Living From Lake Ontario to tony Yorkville and out to the...
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Mid-rise living has its advantages
Michael Collins-Williams – Special to QMI Agency
No doubt, many of today’s home buyers think of just two options when it comes to purchasing a new home —it’s either a high-rise condo in Toronto or the more traditional low density suburban home. But as our communities evolve — more and more consumers are recognizing the benefits in buying a home in a mid-rise building. This third option for home buyers is anticipated to flourish in the years ahead.
Across the Greater Toronto Area, decades of low density development has not always made the most efficient use of existing infrastructure. Most of us are all too familiar with ever increasing traffic congestion, longer commutes and rising housing costs. Despite these issues, our relative prosperity ensures that the GTA will remain the destination of choice in Canada for tens of thousands of new immigrants for the foreseeable future. If we are going to preserve the high quality of life we’ve all become accustomed to, new patterns of growth planning and transportation planning are inevitably going to evolve.
One of the key factors supporting mid-rise condo development is the increasing environmental awareness of governments, businesses and citizens which is directing us to utilize our resources more efficiently. In the coming years, this will translate to an increased focus on the renewal of community infrastructure, as well as the protection and enhancement of our assets. Recent changes in the policies of the provincial government, such as the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Greenbelt Plan are some of the driving forces behind intensification of new development today. Mid-rise buildings will become much more common as the building type of choice both for developers constructing them and new home buyers looking for affordable options that aren’t located in the concrete jungle of downtown Toronto.
As well, Canadians can reduce their impact on the environment through mid-rise condo living. Individual suites are typically smaller than single family homes which is an effective way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the monthly operating costs for homeowners. Glenn Miller, vice-president of the Canadian Urban Institute, suggests “the mid-rise building form has the potential to be the most energy efficient of all building forms.” This type of housing is a perfect opportunity to help the environment and your pocketbook. The buildings themselves are typically located on main streets close to shops and services, which reduces auto-dependency and promotes a healthy active pedestrian lifestyle. Miller notes that “mid-rises are built to a human scale that contributes to street life”. This provides a perfect smart growth alternative to larger scale apartment blocks without compromising the character of traditional neighbourhoods.
The graying of society with many baby boomers approaching retirement age is a second major driving force behind mid-rise condo development. This growing segment of society will increasingly be looking to downsize and live in an easy, maintenance-free lifestyle that doesn’t involve a lot of stairs. Unlike towering skyscrapers, mid-rise buildings in the four to eight floor range have the ability to integrate themselves within the existing urban fabric. These boutique style condo buildings are perfectly suited to provide a new supply of housing to a growing portion of the housing market in an aging society.
Mid-rise condos provide opportunities to enhance our communities while reducing our impact on the environment. Mid-rises blend into and improve neighbourhoods as Miller further suggests that “it’s a building form that adds to the quality of life in cities through quality urban form.
Mid-rise buildings can be viewed as an ideal scenario to provide an affordable supply of new housing for potential home buyers and slightly increase densities without disrupting established communities. There is almost an overwhelming amount of choice in today’s rapidly evolving real estate market. However, considering all the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits that mid-rise living has to offer, a home in a mid-rise project is a choice worthy of consideration for anyone in the market for a new home.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Incoming search terms
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