Sunday, 5 January 2014

Expectations for the Toronto Condo Market in 2014

Based on the 2013 information that has been gained from Toronto New Condo sales what can we expect for the New Year and into 2014. Toronto condo sales have slowed greatly from the record setting pace of 2011, when over 28,000 new condo units were sold.

There have been worries for some time, that there is a condo bubble in Toronto. However, since 2011 condo sales have cooled not only in Toronto, but in other cities across Canada, namely Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.  

Not only have sales cooled and moderated, but the federal government has put in controls to contain any further expansion of the housing market with a specific focus on Toronto and Vancouver. Both those aforementioned cities are the most expensive cities in Canada.

There have been very few project releases in Toronto over the past year, as the market has cooled, but those that are released are facing longer sales cycles as buyers are fewer in number, more reluctant, and facing tighter government and banking lending restrictions. 

Some of the projects that have been released and are going into sales for 2014 include the new 1 Yorkville Project by Bazis and Plazacorp, as well as the 460 Yonge Project being marketed as the Yonge and Grenville Condos. These two projects both near or over the 60 floor projects will find it a challenge to sell quickly in this market, however I believe that they will eventually hit their targets so long as there are few other mega projects to compete with in regards to buyers.

Projects that are currently working their way through the approvals process at this time include the Mirvish Gerhy Project along with the One Yonge Street mega project which contains some Five towers over 240 meters, and is the tallest and largest condo project proposed in Toronto in this new cycle. While Mirvish Gehry will face a challenge getting through council and the OMB without major modifications, One Yonge should be able to get through rather unscathed due to its location in Southcore.


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