Tag Archives: willowdale
Biggest property tax increases expected in Davenport, Willowdale neighbourhoods
Andrew Livingstone – Toronto Star
Homeowners in the Davenport and Willowdale neighbourhoods will likely end up paying more property tax next year, based on recent assessments.
But they’re also the neighbourhoods with the highest increases in property values.
“Our values are consistent with the trends and patterns in the real estate market,” said Joe Regina, with the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. which assesses properties across the province. “These are generally in high demand (and) it’s outpacing their supply.”
Parkdale-High Park, Trinity-Spadina, Rosedale, Davenport and Willowdale all came in well above the average 22.8-per-cent increase in the value of city homes since 2008.
The assessments, which are done every four years, will be used to calculate property taxes in 2013. To cushion the impact, the increased assessments are phased in over four years, with the average assessment going up 5.5% per year to reach the full amount in 2016.
The key to determining a tax bill is where a property ranks with respect to the average in the municipality. If the increase in assessment has been above average, the homeowner will see a tax increase; if it’s average there will be no change; and if it’s below average, the resident will get a tax decrease.
Homeowners in hot real estate neighbourhoods are at highest risk of seeing their property taxes go up in 2013.
Davenport ranked highest out of Toronto’s 44 wards with an increase of 33.72%. Wards 23 and 24, both in Willowdale, were the next highest with 31.44% and 29.56% increases, respectively.
Property assessments in Trinity-Spadina rose 29.25%, Rosedale jumped 28.73%, and Parkdale-High Park was up 27.03%. Rouge River in Scarborough recorded a 27.41-per-cent jump in assessed value.
Wards in North Etobicoke, Centre Etobicoke and York West were well below the average. Assessed value of York West properties increased 13.98% (Ward 8) and 14.97% (Ward 7). In Etobicoke North they rose 15% (Ward 1) and 16.03% (Ward 2), while Etobicoke Centre wards increased 16.64% (Ward 3) and 17.39% (Ward 4).
Due to the variety of buyers in the market it’s hard to pinpoint what areas will be hot, however neighbourhoods in the vicinity of the subway lines are popular for first-time buyers, said John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty.
“These areas are most affordable,” Pasalis said. “Neighbourhoods like the Dovercourt area, they’ll be popular.
An area with houses around $600,000 or close to downtown and near the subway will be in high demand, Pasalis said, adding some areas in the east end, like Leslieville, remain affordable, but he imagines that won’t last long.
The Toronto Real Estate Board home index lists the Junction Triangle/High Park area as having the highest increase in house values measured over five years – not four, like MPAC – at 41.77%.
Pasalis said “blue chip” areas will remain in high demand for second-time buyers and families looking to upgrade and focus on quality schooling.
“Davisville, Riverdale, the Beach, they’re still within reach for most second-time buyers,” he said. Houses in the $750,000 to $850,000 range are still available to dual-income families with kids in those areas, he added.
Sales in condo-centric areas like Liberty Village and City Place will slow in the coming years, Pasalis said.
If the market cools and prices begin to dip, condo owners looking to upgrade to something bigger might be caught in a tough spot, he said.
“Some young condo owners are buying houses first before selling their condos and they end up being in a pinch if it doesn’t sell on time,” he said. “It’s already starting to create challenges for some people, and I think that’s going to continue.
—————————————————————————————————–
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
—————————————————————————————————–
Incoming search terms
Related posts:
- Owners brace for possibility of property tax increase First assessment since two-year freeze is based on real estate...
- Willowdale Real Estate Willowdale Homes Willowdale is a vibrant and cosmopolitan urban centre filled with...
- Modest Toronto neighbourhoods appreciate most Though long overshadowed by the likes of Rosedale and the...
- Property assessment freeze lifted The end of a three-year assessment freeze could mean homeowners in...
- Residential Property Assessment in Ontario Each year, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) prepares an...
Five housing hot spots in Toronto
Ellen Moorhouse – Toronto Star
Talk to real estate agents, and most express disbelief at how the Toronto market keeps defying the doomsayers month after month.
Comment: I believe it, I just can’t believe others cannot.
What’s fuelling it? Those bargain-basement mortgage rates keep affordability in line, even as prices have risen, says Toronto Real Estate Board analyst Jason Mercer.
Comment: Because people buy based on the cost per month, not the purchase price!
Factor in the number of potential buyers per house, and you’ve got a recipe for price hikes. Mercer says recent sales totals projected annually could make 2012 the second-best year on record (after 2007), even as listings have lagged.
Comment: And it is the lack of listings that is really driving the prices these days. With 10 buyers for every seller… And there are so many pent-up buyers out there right now, we could see listings jump 500% and sell THEM ALL.
There is also a rush of foreign money looking for security, as trouble spots multiply overseas. Re/Max Realtron broker Bill Thom says his immigration consultant friends are reporting new interest from the well-heeled in Greece, Italy and Spain, and real-estate board president Richard Silver recently welcomed a visiting group of realtors from India.
But not all neighbourhoods are on the boil. Magnets include (comparatively) affordable prices, good transportation, top-notch public schools and a major dollop of cool.
High-priced houses move slowly. “The real brilliance is in what we would call the lower end, which is around the average of $500,000 now,” says Silver.
Here are five Hogtown hotspots:
East Willowdale/Bayview Village
Who can forget the headline-making story of 300 Dudley Ave. last month. A student, whose family lives in China, bought the bungalow for about $1.18 million, a shocking $421,800 over asking.
Thom knows the area: between Sheppard and Finch, running east from Yonge to the Don River.
He offers another market measure: A bungalow at 59 Forest Grove Dr., on an extra large lot, sold in 2010 for $1.65 million. Just 22 months later, it resold for $2.53 million. No changes: just a hefty $900,000 gain.
Affluent immigrant buyers, mainly from China, Korea and Iran, are drawn to the area. It started with the excellent public schools, such as Earl Haig Secondary, says Thom, but there are other attributes.
The location is close to the subway and major highways, and the original housing stock is uniform: post-war bungalows on large lots, which lend themselves to redevelopment. Properties with “knockdowns” go for about $1.3 million, but with a brand new house, you’re looking at $2.4 to $2.5 million, Thom says.
“I don’t think this is the end of it, because there’s still a lot of money coming in. This area will continue to attract more investment.”
Mimico-New Toronto
Realtor Lynn Tribbling is no doubt biased. She lives in a condo in south Etobicoke’s Humber Bay Shores, with one of the city’s hottest housing markets to the west.
She loves the waterfront, a prime reason for the area’s renaissance. Another draw: it can satisfy a range of buyers, from the cluster of condo towers at the eastern edge to the family-friendly streets of Mimico and New Toronto, with modest older homes, as well as newer townhouse infills on industrial land.
Her survey of 20 recent single-family sales shows the hottest price points are in the $400,000 to $500,000 range on 30-foot lots, where 95% sold over the asking price within days.
“When you get into Mimico,” explains Sutton Group realtor Bill Mohan, “a couple years back we were seeing $359,000, but now $499,000. And they’re still selling, for $510,000, $515,000, $520,000. It’s just affordability. Because everything else has gotten expensive, it’s pushed people into these areas.”
That starts an evolution: “If enough people move into an area, then it’s all of a sudden cool. They’re bringing their friends over there. I’ve always found that has been the trend, the last 10–15 years.”
What’s the future for Mimico, in the doldrums until recently as a low-income industrial area? Planned new condominium projects will boost the population by many thousands, continuing to transform the area’s commercial amenities, even as it poses traffic and transit challenges.
The Junction
One of the strongest year-over-year price hikes took place in the Junction and adjacent neighbourhoods. The real estate board’s “benchmark” prices, which smooth volatility, showed a 16.3% gain for single-family detached homes ($717,900 in March) and 21.5% for semis ($593,700).
Says Sutton Group’s Bill Mohan: “I was just up there the other day, driving, and I couldn’t believe how many people were out there walking and shopping. That’s what’s changed in the last couple of years. It’s really got a good neighbourhood feel.”
Dundas St., west of Keele, is a striking commercial streetscape, but it languished for years in the lee of polluting industries and the pungent stock yards to the north. Plus, the area was dry until a 1997 referendum.
Now, it has some of the coolest architectural antique and furniture stores in the city, busy coffee shops (including a recently opened Starbucks) and restaurants.
The neighbourhood’s appeal has lit a fire under the railway delineated Junction Triangle to the east, as buyers seek more-affordable options on streets such as Perth and Symington Aves. Not much is available, but some detached houses have recently gone over list in the $500,000s. A Perth Ave. semi is currently listed for $469,000.
Dufferin Grove
Real-estate board president Richard Silver picks this area, bounded on the north by Bloor, running west from Dovercourt Rd., past Lansdowne Ave. to the tracks and south to College and Dundas Streets.
The name, of course, comes from Dufferin Grove Park, where volunteers have built, and are fighting hard to retain, a remarkable array of programs.
It gives the area a strong centre, says Silver, and storefronts along College and Dundas are reinventing themselves, as the population changes.
He says houses in the area, both north and south of College, “are flying off the shelves.”
He just sold a unique 800-square-foot, two-bedroom coach house sitting right at the edge of the park for more than its $549,000 list price. Substantial three-storey semis in the area are selling for $700,000 to $850,000, well above list prices in the high $600,000s.
“Personally, I think the market is driven by the fact that Roncesvalles (super hot, as well) to the west and Little Italy to the east have increased in pricing, making Dufferin Grove seem like the affordable option,” says Silver.
Woodbine Corridor
Here’s another neighbourhood that Silver highlights for rising interest and prices. It’s bounded by Coxwell Ave. and Woodbine, and runs from north of the Danforth to Queen St. E.
Says Silver: “Proximity to the Beach and the Danforth subway are big drivers.”
The housing stock includes more detached homes, (the March “benchmark” price was up almost 11% from a year earlier), as well as the ubiquitous semis.
While the board’s average period on the market is 25 days, homes in this area are snapped up in only 13, Silver says, selling for an average of 102 to 105% of the asking price.
“Years ago, young families chose to move to the 905 when they could no longer afford larger detached houses in the 416,” he points out. “Now, and in the future, because of transportation issues, it will be harder than ever to live in the 905, yet work in the 416.”
You can find some of the classic east-end, two-storey semis in the area priced from a low of $375,000 to $450,000, while a few detached are on the market in the $500,000 range. An older-style, two-storey semi on Moberly, south of the Danforth and west of Woodbine, just sold for 120% of list at $601,000.
Looking outside the city?
As Toronto prices rise, so do those in the suburbs, driven by affordability, lack of inventory, and value for money compared to the city.
WEST: Asked to identify a Mississauga hot spot, Sutton Group agent Cynthia Shaw points to Lorne Park, south of the QEW. A more-affluent family neighbourhood, it includes older homes from the 1950s-’70s, some of which are being demolished and replaced. She estimates prices are up 25% year over year, but says you’ll still get twice the house and a bigger lot in Lorne Park compared to Toronto’s west end.
EAST: Re/Max broker Mary Roy says the hot spot in Whitby and Ajax is actually a price point: $350,000 to $400,000 for a detached 1,500– to 1,600-sq.-ft. home. Even in this high-demand, first-time-buyer category, prices are only $10,000 to $20,000 ahead of last year, she says.
NORTH: Look for the best schools, and that’s where you find the action. Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School ranks high, and Markham’s Berczy Village feels the impact. Just about every sale in the area draws multiple offers, says Sutton Group agent Martin MacFarlane. He estimates increases over the past year at about 10%. Detached homes range from $550,000 to $1.1 million.
—————————————————————————————————–
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
—————————————————————————————————–
Incoming search terms
Related posts:
- Toronto real estate market balacing out The share of average household income going toward a mortgage…
- Toronto real estate keeps moving up Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,138 sales during the first two…
- Toronto real estate sales down, prices up The outlook for mortgage rates and income growth over the…
- 2010 Toronto Real Estate In Review Real estate in 2010 has been a year that resembled…
- No housing bubble in Toronto But it is easy to forget that in the first…
Offshore bids price Canadians out of housing market
Toronto bungalow sells for $421,800 over asking price in market’s ‘new reality’
Prithi Yelaja, CBC News
Overseas investors are snapping up properties in Canada’s largest cities, driving up prices and pushing ordinary Canadians out of the housing market, observers say.
Real estate experts call it the “new reality,” and the high price paid for a north Toronto bungalow is the latest evidence.
This month, the three-bedroom bungalow, circa the 1960s and without much updating, sold for $421,800 over the asking price, creating a buzz among agents and other buyers.
Located in Willowdale, where similar detached houses typically sell for just short of $900,000, the bungalow at 300 Dudley Ave. was listed at $759,000.
Comment: Exactly. The house was priced $200,000 below market value. Not only did that spur the bidding war, but it made the winning bid look much crazier than it was. If the house was worth $1 million, then the winning bid was only $180k over. Keep things in perspective.
The winning bid of $1,180,800 came from a university student whose parents live in China and own a business in San Francisco. There were four other bids of more than $1 million.
“The initial response was quite vociferous,” said Michael Adelson, a Re/Max agent who represented the seller and received several phone calls about the deal after it was done.
“There’s a lot of anger among Canadians who earn money here that they’ve been priced out of the market. There is some degree of anxiety about how people are going to compete with these hyper-inflated prices.”
‘Outrageous and borderline bizarre’
Adelson declined to discuss the specifics of the Willowdale deal, citing client confidentiality.
But CBC business commentator Michael Hlinka called the deal “outrageous and borderline bizarre.”
The strong reaction to the price likely stems from how it changes the vision of affordability for average Canadians, he said.
Comment: But this is a large lot in a pricey neighbourhood. I can show you nice semis in Leslieville for $500k or less, or fixer-uppers near The Junction for less than $300k. Again, keep things in perspective.
Property markets in other large cities, such as Vancouver and Calgary, are undergoing similar pricing shocks, he said.
“We’re looking at this through a prism of our expectations growing up in Canada in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, when part of the Canadian dream was that you would own your own single-family home,” Hlinka said. “But as Canada matures, we’re going to be looking at a new reality, where that may be out of reach. And I don’t think you can turn back the clock.”
Toronto real estate mogul Brad Lamb said Canadians’ home-buying expectations have to change, but he doesn’t believe that overseas investors are to blame.
The scarcity of the product — in this case, single detached homes — is key, he said. And as the Toronto population grows and land available for new houses becomes scarce, the competition for these homes will become even more intense.
Comment: And he is right. When there are 20-30,000 new condos built every year and only 100-200 houses, you can see why they are getting pricier. Add to that a house on a 60-foot lot, more than double the usual size, and you can see where the price comes from.
Condos are the alternative. Already, they’re the norm for families wanting to live in the central cores of cities such as New York and Chicago, said Lamb, who is a condo developer.
“It’s an illusion for people to think they can live in downtown Toronto in a detached home and not be wealthy,” Lamb said. “Ordinary people can’t live in central London or central Paris or central New York.
“If you want to live in central Toronto, you’re going to have to live in a condo or be a millionaire. That’s the reality… It’s not a bad thing. It’s the way cities evolve.”
Inflated prices, such as the price fetched by the Willowdale bungalow, do make it difficult for ordinary Canadians to get into the market, no matter who buys the house, said Steve Matthews, a Re/Max agent in north Toronto.
“It skews the market. How does Joe Normal compete with that” [price], said Matthews.
Comment: Joe buys in Leslieville, or Etobicoke, or Pickering. Or he buys a condo. That is what Joe does. It’s as bad as hearing that woman whine about not being able to afford a house like this, the one who runs that horrible blog. She owns a gorgeous house in Richmond Hill, but that is not good enough. We certainly are a spoiled bunch, aren’t we?
“Now, the person who lives next door and the person who lives down the street think they should get that price, too. It also generates resentment because it makes it tougher for everyone — buyers, agents, banks — so there is a ripple effect that goes beyond the immediate sale.”
Comment: That is called market value. And if you can’t afford that area, buy somewhere else. I would love to live in Forest Hill, but I can’t afford it, so I live somewhere else. And I don’t complain about it!
Foreign students drive market
As more people get exposure to Canada as an offshoot of globalization, the overseas investor market will rise, Hlinka said. As an instructor at George Brown College in Toronto, he has seen an explosion in the number of foreign students.
“When their parents come to visit, they get an idea of what real estate costs here, and they can’t believe how cheap it is. They want to buy because they think it’s a bargain.”
In addition to China, investors pouring money into real estate are flocking to Canada from the Middle East, Korea, Russia, India and the Philippines as well, said Tony Ma, who owns HomeLife Landmark Realty in Markham.
About 65% of Ma’s agents are Chinese and the bulk of his business comes from Chinese clients. Most are new immigrants to Canada, but about 20% are foreign investors, including parents overseas who buy on behalf of their children studying in this country.
Fewer than 5% are pure investors with no ties to Canada, said Ma, a former neurosurgeon who moved to Toronto from Zhengzhou, China, in 1998.
“Most of our buyers are part of Canadian culture. I don’t think they are going to push local Canadian people out of the market. When immigrants come to Canada today, they have money, not like when I came to Canada 20 years ago. I didn’t have money.”
Last year, buoyed by his strong ties to the mainland China market, Ma’s agency sold 263 homes priced at more than $1 million, with about 40% of those being all-cash deals with no conditions attached.
Chinese drawn to Canada
Canada’s stable government and banking system and the relatively low prices draw investors, he said, pointing out that while condos in downtown Toronto can sell for $800 per square foot, in Beijing, the price is $2,000 per square foot and in Hong Kong it’s double that.
Moreover, to control prices, the Chinese government allows each family there to bank finance only two properties — one to live in and one to invest in — and buyers must pay 100% cash for anything above the two-property limit, Ma said.
Not only are prices in Canada more affordable, homes and condos are a better value proposition, since they come ready to move into, unlike in China, where buyers get a concrete shell they have to pay to finish, he said.
“So they see an $8 million house here, they see the quality, they see the finishes and they think it’s cheap,” Ma said. “They can move in today.”
Vancouver tops the list with Chinese investors because of the city’s temperate climate and proximity to their homeland, he added.
Janet Sinclair of Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ltd. in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto, routinely deals with foreign investors.
“They have driven prices up,” she said. “Whenever we launch a new condo downtown we get a number of Hong Kong investors and a lot of people coming over from England. People want to put their money in Canadian real estate because they think it’s safe.”
Comment: They buy condos, they do not push prices up. Self-entitled Torontonians with $1,000 strollers who have to get little Kaydon into the best school – they are the ones behind most bidding wars and they are responsible for driving prices up.
Sinclair recently dealt with a Hong Kong investor representing a dozen buyers, who happened to be family members from back home. They snapped up units in a new waterfront condo building and are now interested in another project in the Beaches.
She also recently sold a penthouse condo in downtown Toronto to Swiss investors for $1.25 million.
“They didn’t bat an eye at the price. They said in comparison to what they pay in Switzerland, these prices are nothing. Our prices are not scaring them at all.”
Builders tearing down old houses
The Willowdale buyer who paid the premium price is stinging from the negative reaction to the sale and declined to be interviewed.
Adelson said the Yonge Street corridor between Highway 401 and Finch Avenue is in demand because of the subway and its proximity to York University and Seneca College. Along with a thriving retail strip and a planned new Whole Foods, 10 new condominium projects are in the works.
The area is a magnet for certain ethnic groups, including people from the Middle East and China, Adelson said.
“It’s a cultural thing. Their communities are already there. If you go down to the Danforth, their stores are not there, so that’s not as attractive a location for them.”
The area is also rife with redevelopment as builders tear down older homes and replace them with monster houses or two smaller units.
That’s just what a buyer from China, who recently bought a tear-down bungalow in the area for $720,000, plans to do, said the sales representative who sold him the property.
The buyer became familiar with the area through visiting his daughter, a doctor who lives there. He plans to rent out the house for two years until his building plans are approved, then tear it down and build several townhouse units.
“He thinks the Toronto real estate market has a long way to go,” he said. “He’s right.”
Only pockets of Toronto are of interest to overseas investors, including North York and the downtown core and not areas like Leslieville in the east end, Adelson said. Although that neighbourhood is considered hot and the property values are rising, it has not experienced the overheated bidding wars seen farther north.
—————————————————————————————————–
Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
—————————————————————————————————–
Incoming search terms
Related posts:
- ‘Bully bids’ symptom of housing market gone mad? Bully offers are fuelled by high demand, coupled with an...
- Canadians confront housing market with caution and confidence Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals releases annual Fall report...
- Price index casts a bit of moonlight on the Canadian housing market As we leave Halloween behind, reports coming out of the...
- Price increases slow as housing mix changes By Derek Raymaker – Globe and Mail Well, here we are,...
- Red-hot Toronto real estate shatters price record According to the Toronto Real Estate Board in figures released...
