Toronto Condo Market

[ita]

I came across this random article about several multi-family residential projects in the works in Toronto. With the focus of urban core development, I would love to see some of these style developments in Omaha/CB with the streetcar. I know we would ever have the height of these residential towers, but some of the smaller scale projects could fit in a spot like Lot A or the Dodge Park development.

8 new condo projects hitting the market in the 905













Here are some smaller scale projects:

https://www.designlinesmagazine.com/the ... ly-condos/

[TitosBuritoBarn]

The random high-rise residential skylines they have among their post-war suburbia are a little bizarre (https://goo.gl/maps/JuK7FLaz8CazvubV8), but I definitely agree we could use some Toronto influence.

I understand Canada has much more urban-oriented land use policies that are governed by the province rather than the city which, in some capacity, make housing costs quite expensive in many of its major cities, particularly Toronto and Vancouver. That is how a lot of these get built and don't look like garbage. I think we need to do more on our land use policies to be able to see these with any regularity.

[nativeomahan]

These look a lot like ongoing projects I see in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

https://brelia.mx

https://www.pointsouth.com.mx/magazine/ ... x.html#p=1

https://issuu.com/vallarta-lifestyles/d ... =%23ffffff

[ita]

The random high-rise residential skylines they have among their post-war suburbia are a little bizarre (https://goo.gl/maps/JuK7FLaz8CazvubV8), but I definitely agree we could use some Toronto influence.

I understand Canada has much more urban-oriented land use policies that are governed by the province rather than the city which, in some capacity, make housing costs quite expensive in many of its major cities, particularly Toronto and Vancouver. That is how a lot of these get built and don't look like garbage. I think we need to do more on our land use policies to be able to see these with any regularity.

The differences between Canadian and American cities is an interesting discussion and there are, apparently, lots of scholarly studies about this. One paper I found on Google suggests a counterpoint to the narrative that Canada and America have diverging urban development politics and culture. There is a book regarding the topic that suggests Canadian and American monoculture in the realm of development resulted in the diverging development patterns for their respective large cities. The author in the paper I read suggests a counterpoint; if you look at cities and regions across borders, American and Canadian cities developed under similar circumstances and that currently, urban planning policies and culture are converging. I think we are seeing that even in Omaha in the last decade or two; City master planning downtown and urban midtown, rise of anti-genetrification movements, increased planning and investment into public transportation, among things. This is just one perspective and it doesn't touch on how similar types of growth pattern existing in the largest cities in both Canada and the US are affected by international developers and affluent international investors.

On another note, there was a recent exchange on another thread about height versus density. That multi-tower rendering above is for a master planned community called M City. That project shows how height equals density. Just one of those skyscrapers has something like 700+ units in 60 stories. The 3rd tower is 80 stories and around 900 units. In total, developers are planning for 6,000 units, 15,000 residents in 10 towers on a mere 15 acres! For comparison, there is available greenfield that Gallup still owns by the downtown HQ about that size. The Mercantile/Conagra campus is around 20 acres.

The first three phases already presold all available units. I am not sure who is buying all these, but it's amazing their market easily absorb that many units. I think the pricing was something like $625/sq. ft. for phase 1. Anyway, here are some links about the project.

https://www.corearchitects.com/project/m-city-phase-1/
https://mcitycondos.com/m-city-condominiums.php
https://condopundit.com/m-city-prices-f ... orksheets/
https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2022 ... ondos.html

[ita]

Sorry to keep dumping stuff here, but here is an interesting article about families in Toronto living in condos. I was looking into this because the M City project has a bunch of family friendly amenities and 3 bed units.

This is how many of Toronto’s families are living in condos — and it’s just the beginning

More and more families are choosing to make the move to condo-living, according to census data released last week by Statistics Canada.

The data revealed that 129,000, or 13 per cent, of Toronto’s families lived in condos in 2016, up 8.9 per cent from 118,000 in 2011, and well above the national average of 8.4 per cent.

“Younger families are just not as hung up on the idea of the traditional single detached home,” RE/MAX Condos Plus broker Jamie Johnston tells BuzzBuzzNews. “They don’t want to have to handle the commute to get into the city, and yes, there are affordability issues to consider as well.”

A lack of commute is just one of the reasons that Adrian Crook chooses to live in a condo with his family.

Crook’s blog, “5 Kids 1 Condo,” details his life living in a 1,023 square-foot condo in Vancouver with his partner and five children. Families in Vancouver face similar affordability issues, with the average price of a single detached home in Metro Vancouver coming in at just over $1.5 million last month.

Crook tells BuzzBuzzNews that affordability and lifestyle are two of the main reasons he prefers the condo lifestyle.

“Living here is cheaper in many ways, then if we lived in suburbs,” Crook says. “I don’t have to have a car, we don’t have a big house to take care of. But there’s also the benefit of an urban lifestyle — the health outcomes related to the walkability of living in dense urban environments are huge.”

Also, another interesting website all about condo living:

Are Condos Family Friendly?

[nativeomahan]

I would estimate that 80%+ of new housing construction in Puerto Vallarta is condo construction. There is single family (though not detached) housing in the far edges of town, where land is cheaper. But in the more sought after central city locations it’s 100% condos.

[Louie]

I would estimate that 80%+ of new housing construction in Puerto Vallarta is condo construction. There is single family (though not detached) housing in the far edges of town, where land is cheaper. But in the more sought after central city locations it’s 100% condos.

I think a big piece of this is the ‘american dream’ mindset. Once that is broken, condo living will be more attractive to more people.

[Linkin5]

I would estimate that 80%+ of new housing construction in Puerto Vallarta is condo construction. There is single family (though not detached) housing in the far edges of town, where land is cheaper. But in the more sought after central city locations it’s 100% condos.

I think a big piece of this is the ‘american dream’ mindset. Once that is broken, condo living will be more attractive to more people.

Corporations buying up single family homes are going to make that a reality.

[Louie]

I would estimate that 80%+ of new housing construction in Puerto Vallarta is condo construction. There is single family (though not detached) housing in the far edges of town, where land is cheaper. But in the more sought after central city locations it’s 100% condos.

I think a big piece of this is the ‘american dream’ mindset. Once that is broken, condo living will be more attractive to more people.

Corporations buying up single family homes are going to make that a reality.

True. And unfortunate.

[ita]

I would estimate that 80%+ of new housing construction in Puerto Vallarta is condo construction. There is single family (though not detached) housing in the far edges of town, where land is cheaper. But in the more sought after central city locations it’s 100% condos.

I think a big piece of this is the ‘american dream’ mindset. Once that is broken, condo living will be more attractive to more people.

Corporations buying up single family homes are going to make that a reality.

Thanks for the insight on Puerto Vallarta. I have real estate friends in the Philippines and the new housing market seems to be primarily multifamily, unless you are rich enough to build a SFH. SFH's are usually multi-generational as well and aren't nearly as big as US SFH's.

Regarding the issue of corporation buying up SFH's, are you saying that because of this happening in markets everywhere, they are limiting supply, and thus pushing prices higher? I think SFH prices are already untenable for the average household. Checkout this article about how housing supply and the recent stabilization/drop is wage growth is affecting affordability in Q2 of this year. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mort ... ity-q22022.

Anyway, I don't think condos are the magic pill to solve the housing crisis. In this market, high rise/concrete/steel is very costly and I don't think we could keep prices down to an "affordable" level. Additionally, people living in Omaha or wanting to move here generally want the big house/big lawn/multiple cars life, even though it is increasingly putting people in financially dire straits.

I do think that having higher density, including high rise condos in the urban core, can help give people an alternative, particularly if they are done right, ie. location near schools, shopping, transit, parks, etc. With the Riverfront parks, streetcar, and multimodal and transit investments on the horizon, we can have a very livable urban core. Additionally, as was mentioned in one of those articles, we you could help people eliminate that need of a vehicle by having dense, highly amenitized developments, that can help family/individual balance sheets, even when paying a premium (HOA fees; per sq. ft. prices of SFH have largely caught up to condo prices, from what I have seen in Omaha) of living in a condo. Furthermore, from a land use policy, it makes monetary sense to maximize existing infrastructure and available in-fill greenfields.

It was mentioned previously, but some of the high rises I posted above are actually not in downtown Toronto. M City, that 10 tower project, is being built in Mississauga. It's still in the GTA, but more of a suburb of Toronto, albeit with a 'downtown' of its own with a very dense condo district. If you read people's comments that are buying M City units, they refer to the ability to literally have everything you need right outside your building door, while having accessibility by walking or transit to entertainment and cultural venues. One elder person who will be living there, appreciates that fact that she will no longer be 'alone' and having to deal with stairs coming from a SFH. Anyway, there's a lot to think about when it comes to housing and development, so sorry for the thought dump again.

[ita]

Here is another massive residential/mixed use project in Toronto. This one is downtown, but the numbers are staggering:

7.8 acres (it's wild how much they can fit in such a modestly sized lot; for reference this is the Civic Site or Lot B)
7 buildings, 14-36 stories
1700 residences in 1.5 million sq/ft
1.2 million sq/ft of office (90% preleased out as of May 2022)
400k of indoor outdoor retail
$1.5 billion investment

https://www.thewelltoronto.com/2022/05/ ... ks-like-2/
https://curiocity.com/the-well-toronto/

[nativeomahan]

As someone who owns a single family ranch style home in Omaha and a 1600 sq’ condo in PV I can firmly say that the condo lifestyle is so much easier, especially for households without kids. No yard to keep up, no trash to take to the curb, etc. we have a community swimming pool (filled with younger kids at the moment) and sun deck, so lots of outdoor space to enjoy. While I cherish
our seasonal garden and king sized patio in Omaha, we have ample space for container plants in PV. It’s just a different lifestyle down here, where we spend our time doing what we want to do and a lot less time doing things we need to do.

[ita]

As someone who owns a single family ranch style home in Omaha and a 1600 sq’ condo in PV I can firmly say that the condo lifestyle is so much easier, especially for households without kids. No yard to keep up, no trash to take to the curb, etc. we have a community swimming pool (filled with younger kids at the moment) and sun deck, so lots of outdoor space to enjoy. While I cherish
our seasonal garden and king sized patio in Omaha, we have ample space for container plants in PV. It’s just a different lifestyle down here, where we spend our time doing what we want to do and a lot less time doing things we need to do.

I appreciate your perspective. I wonder if there are more people in Omaha that would like condo living, if more, diverse options were available. It's a tough sell though with high property taxes on top of the additional costs like HOA, parking fees, but I think there if we get better amenity, unique properties, some would jump ship, particularly the empty/no nests folks tired of owning 2k sq. ft. home/10k sq. ft. of land you need to take care of.

[ita]

Toronto to See Record Condo Deliveries in 2023

Jack Rogers
The Greater Toronto Area, known up north as the GTA, will see the delivery of a record number of new condo units in 2023, according to a new report from real estate data analysis firm Urbanation.

But the influx of new supply is not expected to impact on affordability as most of the new condos have been pre-sold to investors planning to rent out the units.

The report anticipates that 32,000 condo units will be completed this year, exceeding the previous record of 22,473 in 2020. It also projects the delivery of 7,740 purpose-built apartments, the highest total in more than 30 years.

Condo completion fell to 13,885 in 2021, due to pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and construction delays. The fresh supply is unlikely to have an impact on a drop in property listings and vacancies brought about by rising interest rates and inflation, Urbanation’s report said.

Another interesting point about Toronto's condo boom; investors are buying them up to rent out. A lot of condo regimes in Omaha do not allow rentals, short of long term, or limit it significantly.

[ita]

I was trying to find what other cities do to promote taller development because of the Tower District stuff. Anyway, I came across another impressive concept planned for Toronto's eastern waterfront. The development is called Quayside. The total size of the development is 12 acres. 3.5 acres will be used for public space. The overall plan is to bring 5 residential, mixed use towers. Other buildings may utilize mass timber technology. The developers anticipate 3000 market rate units and 800 affordable units throughout the development.

https://quaysideto.ca/master-plan/

[ita]

Just came across this update on the Toronto condo market: it's going through a giant market correction!

New condo sales in Greater Toronto Hamilton Area plunge to lowest level since 1991

A report released Wednesday by Urbanation said 2025 marked the fourth straight year of fewer new condo sales in the region, falling 60 per cent from the previous year to a total of 1,599 units. New condo sales in 2025 were also 91 per cent below the 10-year average and have dropped 95 per cent since 2021.

Meanwhile, a total of 7,243 units in new condo projects were scrapped, more than doubling both the number of units cancelled the previous year and the previous record set in 2018.

There was obvious oversaturation and the economy is very soft right now. I still think the kind of density in Toronto style condo buildings should be emulated at some level in Omaha. We have basically had no new condos, particularly downtown in a very a long time.