It’s Condolicious … !

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In this new segment, each week I will gather statistics on condominiums in various Toronto districts.  Although I will only be reporting on 1-2 random condos per district each week, hopefully this will provide some insight into the condominium market that we’re currently in.  Certainly, 1 or 2 condos will not be indicative of the overall market or even the neighbouring market for that matter, but week after week recurring themes and trends should gradually pop up.

Please email us or leave a comment if you wish to have us send you detailed PDF reports for any of the condos below.

* Note: Statistics are Year-to-Date and other districts to be added.

C01 District

18 Yonge (18 Yonge Street)
	Beds	Baths	Parking	Avg. $	Median $	% of List	Days on Market
	0	1	N	$189,500	$189,000	99%	25
	1	1	N	$256,250	$256,500	97.25%	29
	1	1	Y	$282,576	$283,500	96.2%	29
	Most recent sale (6 weeks ago): $301,000, 97% of list, 24 days on market
	1+1	2	Y	$317,867	$320,000	97.5%	17
	Most recent sale (7 weeks ago): $330,000, 98% of list, 36 days on market
	2	2	Y	$388,127	$385,000	97.5%	42
	Most recent sale (3 weeks ago): $387,000, 97% of list, 16 days on market

C08 District

King’s Court (230 King St. E.)
	Beds	Baths	Parking	Avg. $	Median $	% of List	Days on Market
	0	1	N	$197,300	$194,875	102.75%	11
	0	1	Y	$232,000	$232,000	97.5%	25
	Most recent sale (3 weeks ago): $241,000, 96% of list, 16 days on market
	1	1	N	$239,800	$239,500	100.3%	9
	Most recent sale (2 weeks ago): $277,500, 99% of list, 9 days on market
	1	1	Y	$288,700	$290,200	111.33%	6
	1+1	1	Y	$316,500	$316,500	99%	14
	1+2	1	N	$290,500	$291,500	99.3%	23
	2	1	Y	$347,167	$347,000	100.7%	10
	Most recent sale (1 week ago): $347,000, 97% of list, 14 days on market
	2	2	Y	$421,500	$432,500	100.7%	27
	2+1	2	Y	$4100,800	$389,000	98.75%	45

According to The Star, revenues from the controversial municipal Land Transfer Tax are coming in way less than projected. It’s likely to fall far short of the proposed $300 million the tax would bring to the city considering the economic fears, credit crisis, and the slowing of real estate sales. Not many would have guessed that we’d be situated in this global mess, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what this tax would do to Toronto’s real estate market.

Come on councillors … didn’t you give yourselves a nice, hefty payraise because you’re capable of accomplishing what you were set out to do e.g. balancing the city’s budget without taxing us to death? Each councillor’s raise would have placed 10-15 individuals or families in new homes tax-free.

A study is being conducted on the City’s Land Transfer Tax and it will enlighten us on whether the tax was a bright idea or not.

Poll time – slightly bias answers

Toronto’s new land transfer tax isn’t quite the solution to the city’s budget crisis it was touted to be when Mayor David Miller finally pushed the controversial measure past city council last fall.

The city had projected it would collect about $155 million in 2008, already considerably less than the $300 million per year mentioned in the original pitch. But the first five months of the tax, starting Feb. 1, actually brought in only $54.8 million.

Since then, the credit crunch, stock market gyrations, recession fears and possible budget deficits in the federal and provincial governments have taken a toll on consumer confidence – and on real estate values.

The official line is that the tax is still on-target for this year, avoiding a huge hole in the budget. But that would require collecting $100 million in just six months, which would seem impossible given the declining market and the fact the typical top sales months are already past.

And so far, no one at city hall is offering projections for next year.

Miller and allies got the transfer tax passed last year after an acrimonious, months-long debate on the grounds it would save taxpayers from a punishing tax hike. They succeeded only after a summer of budget-slashing, followed by compromise.

The tax was originally supposed to mirror the provincial land transfer tax, with rates that would generate $300 million annually. But to ensure council approval last October, the rates were lowered. For example, on a $400,000 home, the provincial tax is $4,475; the city tax only $3,725. Also, first-time buyers qualify for a rebate up to $3,725.

Councillors complain they’ve been kept in the dark about the tax revenue figures.

Councillor Michael Thompson has asked Miller in writing for details of contingency plans should the land transfer tax fall short, and whether service cuts may be needed to balance the 2009 operating budget. He hopes for an answer by next week’s council meeting.

“Specifically as it relates to the land transfer tax, I don’t think we’ve been kept up to date on it,” Thompson said.

The mayor expects to be able to balance the budget, including a 2 per cent to 4 per cent increase in the property tax to meet inflation, but without imposing big service cuts, said spokesperson Stuart Green.

“The mayor’s plan all along is to introduce budgets that are balanced. We were able to do that last year and we should be able to do that this year,” Green said.

But Von Palmer, spokesperson for the Toronto Real Estate Board, says the housing market “seems to be in a downward trend.”

“There’s no doubt that the land transfer tax isn’t helping,” he said yesterday. “It’s an upfront cost that people have to pay.”

Councillor Paul Ainslie, a member of the budget committee, said officials referred to declining numbers when he recently asked about revenues from the new taxes.

“That’s when they started saying … it’s nowhere near where it was expected to be,” Ainslie said.

Other councillors on the budget committee, however, say concerns about a declining real estate market are overblown.

Councillor Adrian Heaps said developers have had no trouble selling out a new subdivision at Warden and St. Clair Aves. Even high-end homes are selling, he said.

Toronto is in good shape relative to other centres, added Councillor Gord Perks.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/520934

Riverdale Lofts … oh I mean Leslieville Lofts project has been scrapped. Apparently, the city and neighbourhood opposed the idea and another development (possibly in the form of stacked townhomes) will take its place. It’s really unfortunate as 50% of the building was sold and now those consumers will have to look elsewhere.  An application to rezone the area was rejected once before, late last year.  So hopefully, the buyers of this building were aware of this and were informed of the possible outcomes.

Leslieville Lofts at Broadview and Queen St. E.

It’s a nice neighbourhood. I use to live a few blocks east of there and attended school at Queen Alexandra (Broadview & Dundas). The building looked promising – very sleek and modern. But honestly it didn’t seem to fit in well with the surrounding buildings and homes.

Is this a foreshadowing of things to come?

A major Toronto developer says his condo projects are on track despite the global credit crunch and real estate downturn, but one east end loft has been scrapped after losing a zoning battle.

The sign has come down for Lamb Development Corp and Hyde Park Homes’ Leslieville Lofts, located off Queen Street East, after the Ontario Municipal Board ruled against the nine-storey proposal.

The city had opposed the project, Brad J. Lamb (pictured above) said in an interview today. Mr. Lamb says he still intends to build at 134-162 Broadview Avenue, but it will be in the form of a stacked townhouse, and the project won’t bear the name “Leslieville,” since the address is actually in neighbouring Riverside.

“If we had won, we would be going for financing now, and there’s no doubt it’s a more challenging environment. Any development in the city that has achieved 70% of their pre-sales, and the budget makes sense — in other words, they sold them at a high enough price that protects the bank — banks are lending developers money,” said Mr. Lamb. “All our projects that we’ve been involved with have got financing.”

On Friday, city budget chief Shelley Carroll revealed that a “handful” of Toronto developers were placed in tricky positions when the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed and cast doubt on their financing. “They’re domesticating now, and so the projects will go ahead,” Ms. Carroll said. Still, the city moved last week to freeze development charges in the midst of the credit crisis.

Toronto Building, the city office that issues development permits, said it has not seen the number of building applicants drop. Ann Borooah, chief building official, said the office is not usually appraised of projects that went sour. “They would take more time to proceed to the next stage of approval, or more time to proceed to construction. It would be some time before it’s confirmed that a project was in trouble,” she said.

In the case of the Leslieville Lofts, it was the city and the neighbourhood that came out against the development, said local councillor Paula Fletcher.

“Not only did people not like the height, they were very annoyed that they were trying to market Leslieville into the Riverside district,” said Ms. Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth).

She said other projects have respected the four-storey limit on Broadview, north of Queen Street, which is zoned as “neighbourhood.”

Mr. Lamb said his team believed the city had erred in its zoning, and that it in fact made sense to be able to “frame” the intersection with buildings of similar height on both the north and south side. Another Lamb project, called The Ninety, is nine storeys high and set to be located south of Queen.

“It’s actually quite typical for a project to be approved at twice or many times three or four times higher than the current zoning,” he said. “What’s strange is this very sacrosanct zoning in the city that’s called neighbourhood, and they fight very hard when you try to change a neighbourhood zoning,” he said.

He said most of King Street West has a zoning of 18 metres, “but they easily allow 30 metres.”
Anyone who had purchased a Leslieville Loft can get a refund, can buy at another Lamb development or sign up for the Leslieville reincarnation, said Mr. Lamb. About 50% of the units had been sold since it went on the market nine months ago.

Source: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/10/20/leslieville-lofts-dead-brad-lamb-goes-to-plan-b.aspx

Prices of existing homes in Canada’s largest city took a stunning drop in the first half of October, down by 15 per cent compared with the same time last year.

The average price of a home in the city of Toronto is now $375,804 compared with the $441,878 recorded in the first two weeks of October in 2007, according to figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board yesterday.

The impact was more muted once the 905 suburbs were factored in where the average price of a home is down by 8 per cent to $337,671.

Overall, Greater Toronto Area prices fell by 11 per cent, with the average home now commanding $353,722 from the prior $399,013.

The last time average prices were that low was back in January of 2007 – or 21 months ago.

“That’s a very big drop,” said TD Economics Strategist Millan Mulraine in an interview. “We expected things to moderate, but when you see double-digit declines like that then the market is moving downward much faster than anticipated.”

Toronto is generally seen as one of the most stable cities in North America. Prices have not risen as quickly here as in other metropolitan areas, and analysts have factored in a soft landing for price depreciation.

But on Wednesday, after a report that Canadian house prices had fallen by more than 6 per cent in September compared to a year earlier, Merrill Lynch economist David Wolf warned that the housing market is likely to trend weaker than the general consensus and that the “risk of an outright bust cannot be dismissed.”

Fear of a recession and a drop in consumer confidence has taken a toll on the housing market. The Royal Bank expects to see zero growth this year, and a puny 0.5 per cent growth next year in the Canadian economy.

Sales volumes in the city of Toronto, meanwhile, declined by 21 per cent, while it was down by 16 per cent in the 905 suburban area.

The Toronto Real Estate Board is monitoring whether the implementation of a city of Toronto land transfer tax had an impact on declining sales.

One reason for the bigger price declines in the city could also be because more expensive homes tend to drop in value more quickly, said economist Mulraine.

“There is a bigger margin on more expensive homes, so if you lose a few thousand to get the house moving, that’s not as big an issue. However, given that you also have a double-digit drop in the GTA proper, then it looks like this is not just restricted to upper-end homes.”

Buyers have also far more choice this year, with listings up by 30 per cent compared to a year ago.

Homes are taking an average of 34 days to sell compared to 29 in 2007.

Source: http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/519655

Let’s get an idea of how condo apartments are doing so far in the C01 district.

The C01 district had 60 sales midway through October and monthly sales projected to be 135. If we compare this to last October, our projected figure will not exceed even half of last year’s total, which was 287, and 228 for 2006. That’s a 60% decrease! I’m holding my breath to see what adjectives they use in the headlines to describe this month’s results. Crumbling? Meltdown? Actually, it’s not surprising at all as consumer confidence has dropped significantly in recent months as has their stock portfolios.

Percentage of asking price was 97.7% and an average of 37 days on market. Contrast this with last year’s percentage of asking price at 101% and 22 days on market.

Activity in the Greater Toronto Area resale housing market moderated considerably during the first half of October with 2,700 homes changing hands, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill announced today.

Sales volumes in the GTA decreased 18 per cent compared to the first half of October 2007, when 3,297 transactions were recorded and are down 10 per cent compared to the same period in 2006 when 3,007 sales took place.

In the City of Toronto 1,140 sales took place in the first half of this month. This represents a 21per cent decline from the 1,446 sales that took place in the same period a year ago and a 13 per cent decrease from the 1,312 transactions recorded in the first half of October 2006.

In the 905 Region there were 1,560 sales in the first two weeks of this month, a 16 per cent decrease from the 1,851 transactions that took place during the same timeframe in 2007 and down eight per cent from the 1,695 homes sold during the first half of October 2006.

House prices declined throughout the GTA during the first half of the month. The average priceof a GTA home is currently $353,772, down 11 per cent from $399,013 recorded the comparable period in 2007.

In the City of Toronto the current average price $375,804, a 15 per cent decrease from the $441,878 average recorded at mid-October 2007.

In the 905 Region the average price of a home is currently $337,671. This represents an eight per cent decline from the $365,527 average recorded during the first half of October 2007.

With 27,559 properties currently listed on the TorontoMLS system, there is now 30 per cent more available stock from which to choose as compared to a year ago when 21,182 homes were listed.

“More choice can mean slightly longer wait times for sellers whose homes are now on average, selling after 34 days on the market as compared to 29 days a year ago,” said Ms. O’Neill. “The list to sales ratio is 97 per cent of the list price.”

Increased sales activity was noted in specific pockets located throughout the GTA.

Sales in Oshawa (E16) increased 15 per cent compared to the first half of October 2007, based mainly on solid sales of detached homes.

In Brampton West (W24) sales in the first half of October increased 21 per cent compared to the same period a year ago mainly due to strong attached row house sales.

Downtown East (C08) experienced a 16 per cent overall increase in activity compared to mid-October 2007 primarily as a result of condominium apartment sales.

Newmarket saw a 17 per cent increase in sales compared to the first half of October 2007 as a result of strong condominium apartment and semi-detached home sales.

Previous news releases have incorporated 2006 comparisons. This was necessary in order to place the market statistics in a broader context. We will be referencing 2006 in its entirety at the end of the month when it will be more relevant.

“While we continue to watch the economic picture globally, it is the local real estate climate that will determine our market place,” said Ms. O’Neill. “After the 2007 record highs, 2008 is an encouraging market for buyers.”