Affordable Toronto Condos

We have all seen the current ads from Toronto’s super-luxury condominiums; The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, Living Shangri-La Toronto and the Four Seasons Private Residences to name a few.

These Condos represent less than 3 per cent of the 49,000 new Condos on the market in the Greater Toronto Area.

 Almost 70 per cent of remaining Condos, sell between $300 to $500 per square foot.

The super-luxury condominium sites include  Yorkville Area , One Bedford, Museum House, One St. Thomas and One Hundred Yorkville. Downtown we have the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La Toronto and the Trump International. These Condos have prices of $950 per square foot and up.

The newest of these luxury projects include Seventy Seven Charles just over $1,000 per sq. ft, and the Four Seasons Private Residences averaging $1,350 per sq.ft, and finally Living Shangri-La averaging $1,100 per sq. ft.

Compared to World Standards Toronto Condos are still affordable and a great deal. New York City Condos in 2006 averaged  $1,120 per sq.ft compared to Toronto’s $379 per sq.ft

The current Toronto Condo Market is still driven by affordability and first-time buyers. Some 200 new Condo Projects are priced within reach of downtown professionals and are located in prime locations with all the  luxury amenities.

It will be interesting to see how all of these new projects are absorbed and how high prices will go. Also interesting will be if the super-luxury Condos will affect the rest of the remaining condominium market.

Right now, two new projects nearing completion, The Residences of College Park and One City Hall are very popular on my Toronto Real Estate website and my Toronto Condo Blog. Once they are registered we should see a lot of activity in the resale market and some price appreciation.

Mid June Sales Jump…

 Toronto Home resales up 24 per cent in first half of June

Toronto, June 19, 2007 — During the first fifteen days of June, resale home transactions jumped 24 per cent compared to the same timeframe a year ago, Toronto Real Estate Board President Dorothy Mason announced today. The first half of the month yielded a remarkable 5,074 sales, an increase of 1,000 transactions from last year’s mid-June figures. This total was also 12 per cent higher than the 4,522 sales recorded in the first half of May, which ended as the most active month ever.

“We are going through one of the strongest spring markets ever,” Mrs. Mason said. “There is a lot of momentum carrying over from that and it bodes well as we move into summer.”

In Scarborough Centre / Woburn (E09), sales of detached homes doubled as 38 per cent more overall transactions took place compared to mid-June a year ago.

Alderwood / Mimico (W06) in Toronto’s west end saw an overall increase in activity of 50 per cent compared to figures from last year.

Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood (C02) saw the number of transactions to mid-June increase by 61 per cent compared to 2006.

Outside the city, brisk sales of town homes and detached homes in central Vaughan (N0 led the way as overall transactions increased 53 per cent over the same timeframe a year ago.

The average price of a resale home at mid-month was $384,576, an increase of seven per cent over the $358,648 recorded during the first half of June 2006. Inventory stood at 23,725 listings, reflecting a good amount of choice and helping to keep price increases under control.

“We have strong local and national economies, great value in the marketplace and solid returns on investment,” TREB’s President said. “It’s an excellent time to be in the market, and savvy consumers are taking advantage of these great conditions.”

It is interesting that the Annex (C02) is still so strong as homes sales in this central area of Toronto have been very active since January! A lot of effort has gone into this area with upgrading and generally a pride of ownership that results in a win-win siuation for everyone.

Purchasers are buying throughout Toronto and I recommend that now is the time to buy with a wide choice of homes for sale and prices still affordable. 

Visit my Toronto Real Estate website with up to date listings of Condos, Lofts and Townhouses.

Hot Toronto Condos

May,2007, was a record setting month for Toronto condos with certain areas increasing in resales up to 37 per cent. The central downtown district of Toronto, Central (C01),  shoot up 37 percent and West Agincourt East (E05) almost the same at 39 per cent.

The Cooksville/Port Credit area West (W12) was up 41 percent in resales and Vaughan Center North (N0 was up 40 per cent.

These Condo sales helped drive the resale market in the Toronto area to a record 11,146 total sales.

These resale figures include both homes and condos so the median price increased to $325,000 compared to 309,900 in May of 2006. The month of May 2007 increase of the average price reached $382,787, a 5 per cent increase from the same month last year.

The growing Toronto housing market is a result of good job opportunities, lower interest rates and increasing immigration into the city and surrounding areas. Consumer confidence is also a big factor as buyers are ignoring Economists and housing Analysts and have contributed to the best ever month of Toronto home sales

The total 11,146 resales are made up of both homes and condos in the Toronto area. Toronto Condos are contributing more and more to the total figures so we can look forward to more encouraging figures in the future.

Current resale information on Toronto Condos can be found on my Toronto Real Estate web page.