unimaginative2
Senior Member
Top of the list for detached homes
DEREK RAYMAKER
November 9, 2007
Brampton has been leading the way in new home sales and construction in the Greater Toronto Area for the better part of a decade. If the provincial government has its way, the sprawling municipality of 450,000 will continue to absorb the demand for housing in Peel Region as part of its Southern Ontario greenbelt-protection strategy.
Brampton has been designated as the city where new housing can be built mostly unconstrained by any desire to protect the surrounding area from development.
Two years ago, city planners and politicians threw a wrench into that plan when they capped new housing growth to 5,500 approved units a year. Of course, intensification developments and central condominiums were exempt. The idea was to slow the onslaught of new detached housing that has been stretching the city's ability to provide services and roads.
In some subdivisions, planned municipal services are up to five years behind the building curve.
One recent event that could affect demand for new housing was last week's announced layoff of 1,100 workers at a Chrysler auto assembly facility. The scale of job cuts might have taken the wind out of many a town's local economy. But Brampton's fortunes are not tied to a single industry. When you get right down it, Brampton is still a commuter city, even more so than its neighbour to the south, Mississauga. Its economic fate remains dependent on the overall fortunes of the GTA and its white-collar enterprises.
So, bumps along the road like the Chrysler job cuts haven't dented demand for Brampton housing. Low-rise building has been on a tear in Brampton this year, with 3,037 single starts and 468 semi-detached starts in the January to September period, according to recent data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Single detached construction alone in Brampton is up 63 per cent from the same period in 2006. It also accounts for over 25 per cent of all single detached starts in Greater Toronto for the first nine months of 2007. Its nearest rival, Vaughan, reported a little more than half of Brampton's total, at 1,707.
Brampton's ample supply of new detached housing has helped the average price stay below the important psychological threshold of $400,000 - but just barely. Total sales of new detached homes in Brampton for January to September netted an average price of $397,772, up 6.9 per cent from the average single price of $372,097 for the same period in 2006.
Only Milton, Clarington, Oshawa and Whitby, of all the most active new development markets, managed to keep average prices under $400,000 in this period.
Among the most active developments in Brampton is Medallion Developments' 500-lot Castlestone project at Bramalea Road and Countryside Drive. Prices here range from $366,000 to $485,000 for detached houses between 1,868 and 3,200 square feet. Semi-detached models are also available between $307,000 and $340,000 for between 1,428 and 1,938 square feet.
Some of the larger models here come with five bedrooms, and among the features are 12-foot ceilings in the principal rooms and mature landscaping.
Another typical new-low-rise development is Willow Creek, a highly successful community of over 700 homes surrounding a ravine at Torbram and Countryside Roads. Willow Creek released its final phase earlier this year: 150 detached homes with 36-, 41- and 45-foot frontages, many which back onto the ravine. Prices here range from the $320,000s to $450,000s for between 1,700 and 3,400 square feet. Some Brampton developments aren't lacking in size or grandiosity, even at the lower price point.
draymaker@globeandmail.com
DEREK RAYMAKER
November 9, 2007
Brampton has been leading the way in new home sales and construction in the Greater Toronto Area for the better part of a decade. If the provincial government has its way, the sprawling municipality of 450,000 will continue to absorb the demand for housing in Peel Region as part of its Southern Ontario greenbelt-protection strategy.
Brampton has been designated as the city where new housing can be built mostly unconstrained by any desire to protect the surrounding area from development.
Two years ago, city planners and politicians threw a wrench into that plan when they capped new housing growth to 5,500 approved units a year. Of course, intensification developments and central condominiums were exempt. The idea was to slow the onslaught of new detached housing that has been stretching the city's ability to provide services and roads.
In some subdivisions, planned municipal services are up to five years behind the building curve.
One recent event that could affect demand for new housing was last week's announced layoff of 1,100 workers at a Chrysler auto assembly facility. The scale of job cuts might have taken the wind out of many a town's local economy. But Brampton's fortunes are not tied to a single industry. When you get right down it, Brampton is still a commuter city, even more so than its neighbour to the south, Mississauga. Its economic fate remains dependent on the overall fortunes of the GTA and its white-collar enterprises.
So, bumps along the road like the Chrysler job cuts haven't dented demand for Brampton housing. Low-rise building has been on a tear in Brampton this year, with 3,037 single starts and 468 semi-detached starts in the January to September period, according to recent data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Single detached construction alone in Brampton is up 63 per cent from the same period in 2006. It also accounts for over 25 per cent of all single detached starts in Greater Toronto for the first nine months of 2007. Its nearest rival, Vaughan, reported a little more than half of Brampton's total, at 1,707.
Brampton's ample supply of new detached housing has helped the average price stay below the important psychological threshold of $400,000 - but just barely. Total sales of new detached homes in Brampton for January to September netted an average price of $397,772, up 6.9 per cent from the average single price of $372,097 for the same period in 2006.
Only Milton, Clarington, Oshawa and Whitby, of all the most active new development markets, managed to keep average prices under $400,000 in this period.
Among the most active developments in Brampton is Medallion Developments' 500-lot Castlestone project at Bramalea Road and Countryside Drive. Prices here range from $366,000 to $485,000 for detached houses between 1,868 and 3,200 square feet. Semi-detached models are also available between $307,000 and $340,000 for between 1,428 and 1,938 square feet.
Some of the larger models here come with five bedrooms, and among the features are 12-foot ceilings in the principal rooms and mature landscaping.
Another typical new-low-rise development is Willow Creek, a highly successful community of over 700 homes surrounding a ravine at Torbram and Countryside Roads. Willow Creek released its final phase earlier this year: 150 detached homes with 36-, 41- and 45-foot frontages, many which back onto the ravine. Prices here range from the $320,000s to $450,000s for between 1,700 and 3,400 square feet. Some Brampton developments aren't lacking in size or grandiosity, even at the lower price point.
draymaker@globeandmail.com