Toronto Home Sales Continue to Tank This Fall Data shows that September continued to be a month of decline for the Toronto real estate market, with sales falling between 38 and 45 per cent compared to a year earlier. This marks the fifth month in a row of declining sales, which not too long ago had high home values and crazy sales numbers. Once the government stepped in to try and cool the market with new housing rules, such as the 15-per-cent foreign buyers’ tax, May was the beginning of the decline. In the current market, depending on the value of the home and the neighbourhood, some are selling quickly while some continue to sit there. Lauren Haw, CEO of Zoocasa says that “homes around $500,000 are on fire and selling very quickly,” while things are slower in the higher price ranges in the city. In the current market, Haw suggests, if you “miss the mark with your initial pricing, your house will go stale.” Haw also believes that the next 6 months will continue to be slow in Toronto, with no price collapse in Toronto’s future. Haw sees prices stabilizing, while other analysts see pressure on Toronto’s housing market due to rising interest rates, mortgage rule tightening which would require borrowers who put 20 per cent down or more to go through a “stress test” to see if they can afford their mortgage if rates were to increase by two percentage points. If you are in need of a real estate lawyer, please visit our Real Estate Page and contact one of our Real Estate Lawyers today. For any other legal services or inquiries, please contact Devry Smith Frank LLP directly at 416-449-1400 or visit our website for more information. By: Nicolas Di Nardo “This article is intended to inform. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Real EstateOctober 4, 2017June 18, 2020
Top Intersections for Condos in Toronto Condos have been taking over the Toronto skyline, with more to come not only in the downtown core, but in popular hubs around the entire city. New builds provide a ton of options for prospective buyers because they seem to be popping up all over the city, but it seems that re-sale condos surrounding many of the city’s key downtown intersections have the demand and high prices. Prices are up to 23 per cent higher than the city-wide average, according to TheRedPin. The real estate company looked at 25 key intersections with two bedroom and one bedroom units. Two-bedroom condos at Bay and King Sts., and Bay and Bloor Sts. sold at some of the highest prices between January and August with an average of $1.5 million. Two-bedroom apartments in Yorkville sold for an average of $1.3 million, while one-bedroom units were around $753,735. In comparison, you could secure a one-bedroom at Bay and King for $494,591 and $626,989 at Bay and Bloor. On average, one-bedrooms were selling for $545,000 in Toronto and two-bedrooms at $925,000. Enzo Ceniti of TheRedPin said that “at these busy intersections, value can increase by 20 per cent or more,” if you’re an investor, areas like the ones mentioned above are where you should be looking. For those looking to invest or purchase, here is a statistic that may be helpful to know: 56% of condos at the 25 intersectoins were one-bedroom 30% were two-bedroom Remainder consists of studios and larger apartments For those looking to not spend as much as previously mentioned, TheRedPin has also identified the lowest sale prices and their areas. Two-bedroom units were at their lowest at Yonge and Dundas Sts., averaging $658,234. One-bedroom units could be found as low as $371,444 at Queen and Yonge Sts. Needless to say, condos outside of downtown can be found for less. Yonge St. and Finch Ave. averaged $424,698 during the study, with two-bedrooms costing $583,014 on average. Prices decrease as you move further out of the core. With prices increasing over the past year, entry-level for Toronto consumers has been a condo, rather than a townhome, semi-detached or detached homes. As things are looking to settle in Toronto, with the measures taken by the government, it will be interesting to see if the distinction between the house and condo market will continue to shrink. If you are in need of a real estate lawyer, please visit our Real Estate Page and contact one of our Real Estate Lawyers today. For any other legal services or inquiries, please contact Devry Smith Frank LLP directly at 416-449-1400 or visit our website for more information. By: Nicolas Di Nardo “This article is intended to inform. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Real EstateSeptember 21, 2017June 18, 2020
Toronto Housing Market Update: August 2017 Home sales slowed down through August so much that there was a 34.8 per cent drop in sales compared to last year. This marks the fourth month in a row where sales and home prices have dropped. July’s average price was sitting at $746,033 while August had an average price of $732,292. Since the introduction of the 16 measures in April, the current average price has seen a significant drop. April’s average price was almost $1 million. Not to mention, the number of new listings was the lowest recorded for August since 2010, and down 6.7 per cent from last year. If you are currently searching for a property or have a plan to purchase property in the near future, contact our Real Estate Group with any questions or concerns you may have. Browse our Real Estate lawyers page and contact them directly, or, call our office at 416-449-1400 for more information. By: Nicolas Di Nardo “This article is intended to inform and entertain. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Real EstateSeptember 6, 2017June 18, 2020
Mid-rise Housing, The Next Best Thing for Toronto Real Estate? With detached homes in Toronto reaching unattainable prices and an abundance of high rise condos taking over the city skyline, most of which are either purchased and sitting empty or demanding rent that is extremely high, could midrise development within some of Toronto’s neighbourhoods be the answer to the homeownership struggle many Torontonians are facing? Toronto planners think so, as they claim it would not overwhelm neighbourhoods and at the same time, will provide housing for thousands. Midrise buildings are typically four to eleven storeys, that many NIMBYs are opposed to having populated their neighbourhoods. To find out more on NIMBYs and their influence on Toronto’s real estate, check out two of our previous blogs: Affluent Boomers are Taking Pressure from ‘YIMBY’ Groups in the GTA Reasons Why A Starter Home is No Longer an Option Midrise development is, unfortunately, becoming tougher for developers to propose and carry out, as these so-called NIMBYs, or locals to the neighbourhoods in which the midrise development is being proposed, fight these developers to try to halt their project. In the most recent fight against a midrise development, these angry residents feature some of Toronto’s elite, such as Margaret Atwood, Galen Weston Jr., Scott Mcfarland, and his wife, Cleophee Eaton (yes, the department store). Some of their claims to the government include simply, ruining the Annex and destroying their quality of life. An excerpt from Weston’s email to Toronto city councillor Joe Cressy reads: “The development, designed as is, will change the neighbourhood in such a negative capacity and will devalue all of the assets we currently love about living here; it will no longer be the ideal place for our young family to grow up. This building is an invasion of our privacy, our community, and an environmental assault on our neighbourhood.” Now, they are probably concerned mostly about their privacy. With success comes money, with money comes entitlement (for the most part). As columnist Emma Teitel puts it, “they’ve chosen to make a stink about the possibility that someday down the line, someone standing on a balcony will be able to peer into their yards and see them barbecuing corn.” They are failing to see the benefit of such a development. Their blurred reasoning and understanding of this development proposal, maybe due to the fact that they are very successful and don’t want peering eyes into their backyards as Teitel said, or it could merely be because they don’t know what it is like to not own a home in the fourth-largest city on the continent, thus they cannot fathom what it is like to be an average Torontonian in this day and age, and how much these midrise developments really do benefit not only the city but the area it is situated in as well. As much as people don’t like change (take the recent renaming of the ACC to Scotiabank Arena as a prime example) you are forced to either adopt, adapt, or leave. As many like to put it, you better shape up or ship out. In the past, NIMBYs have fought against an Ossington midrise, that they took all the way to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). In 2015, the OMB approved the project but made minor modifications to the plans. It was a six-storey, 85 suite building. Now that it is up, it is clear that it is the best thing to happen to Ossington in the last century, and many of the so-called NIMBYs are starting to realize that. With the outrage for the proposed Davenport midrise, will it surprise anyone if the fight goes all the way to the OMB? Probably not. Based on Galen Weston’s email to Cressy, it sounds like he will take it upon himself to make sure the OMB does review it. Yes, the Annex is home to a number of notable figures, but it is also a central neighbourhood with a subway, shops, and is walking distance to a major university in the city. The fight to limit the accommodation of people who inhabit Toronto, especially a region within Toronto that is already a bustling metropolis, therefore, seems foolish of the elite to be against. You’d think with all of their smarts and success, along with the results of past challenges presented to the OMB, our influential Annexers would think twice and let it be. If you are in need of a planning and development lawyer or real estate lawyer, please contact our Planning and Development lawyers or Real Estate lawyers today. If you have any other questions, you can contact our office directly at (416) 449-1400. “This article is intended to inform and entertain. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Planning and Development Law, Real EstateAugust 31, 2017June 18, 2020
Six Figure Income Required To Buy in the GTA If the past year of insanely high home prices hasn’t made you rethink home ownership, maybe this new report will. Two real estate companies conducted separate studies and have come up with the income requirements if you are looking to afford a home in Toronto. The results don’t seem to benefit Canada’s millennials. A majority of millennials out there, approximately 59% of those aged 25 to 30, would like to own a detached house in 5 years. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but according to research by TheRedPin, the annual income needed to afford the average detached house in Toronto ($1.15 million) is a whopping $200,663 with monthly mortgage payments of $4,349 (based on 20 per cent down, 2.99% mortgage, amortized over 25 years). A condo does not give millennials much hope either, with the average price being $576,000, you’d need an income of $92,925 to carry payments of $1,933 a month, plus tax, utilities, and condo fees. While these numbers start to slowly change, people in their late 20s are going to continue to face affordability issues compared to their parents. While cities like Toronto provide the best opportunity for employment for young adults, they result in being the most expensive markets to own property. Going outside of the city to live and work may seem like the better option, but it is still relatively expensive: Buyers need more than $150,000 a year to cover the cost in half of 22 Toronto area municipalities Oshawa needs an annual income of $108,773 to afford an average home of $552,268 King Township needs $264,000 a year to afford $5,883 in mortgage payments with an average price of $1.6 million Many young adults looking to escape their family home, stop paying rent, and find a place to call their own, cannot afford to put a down payment on a condo or house. Nearly 25 per cent have looked to family for assistance on a down payment. Even though that number is quite low, it may continue to grow with the rate the market is going. It isn’t as easy to afford housing as it used to be. If you are in need of a real estate lawyer, please visit our website and contact one of our real estate lawyers today. If you are in need of any other services or have any questions, you may also contact our Toronto office directly at 416-449-1400. By: Nicolas Di Nardo “This article is intended to inform and entertain. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Real EstateAugust 22, 2017June 19, 2020
Is Toronto Now a Buyers’ Market? By: Nicolas Di Nardo The CREA has stated that the GTA has had the biggest drop in sales in June, and Toronto has now fully moved from sellers’ territory (ratio above 60 per cent) to buyers’ territory (ratio under 40 per cent). Patterns of sellers facing difficulties offloading properties as buyers sat around hoping for prices to come down, may have led the change. Sales-to-listings ratios are also a benchmark that is utilized to determine the territory, which the following can be identified: Balanced: 50 per cent (5 homes are sold for every 10 that come on the market) Sellers’: 60 per cent plus Buyers’: 40 per cent and below This is a significant change in Toronto’s market. If you take a look at the ratio in March, that stood at 86 per cent. Considering the effort put in by the government to assist in cooling down the hot Toronto market, it seems to now be taking some effect. Not only has it changed the way people are now looking at the housing market, but they are beginning to deter buyers from snatching up every single property within Toronto, due to the new initiatives in place. This drop is the largest monthly decline since 2010. Homes priced at $1.5 million and above have seen very little action, with low attendance to open houses, and being on the market for weeks rather than just a weekend. It will be interesting to see if the decline will continue, or if the current market trend and prices will stay stagnant into 2018. “This article is intended to inform and entertain. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.” By Fauzan SiddiquiBlog, Real EstateJuly 19, 2017June 22, 2020
