Coronavirus and the impact to the real estate market

[Undead]

IMHO, a unit doesn't need to be over 1,200 sq.ft. to be family friendly. I would say anything over 900 sq.ft. is enough for a family of three, provided the unit is laid out well. For example, my 1,050 sq.ft. unit would be a perfectly adequate 3/2+1 bedroom, 2 bathroom. But the lame floorplan makes it a cramped 2 bedroom (the living/dining room is stupidly large).

but they tend to be <1,200 sqft and poorly laid out

 

[cdr108]

IMHO, a unit doesn't need to be over 1,200 sq.ft. to be family friendly. I would say anything over 900 sq.ft. is enough for a family of three, provided the unit is laid out well. For example, my 1,050 sq.ft. unit would be a perfectly adequate 3/2+1 bedroom, 2 bathroom. But the lame floorplan makes it a cramped 2 bedroom (the living/dining room is stupidly large).

what do you consider "stupidly large"?

I find lots of highly dysfunctional floorplans now in the "family-sized" 3 bedroom/2 bathroom category:
- long (20+ft) entry corridors
- small (<100 sq ft) bedrooms and some windowless interior with small closets
- small kitchens with insufficient countertop & storage space
- kitchen/LR/DR combos squeezed into 200 sq ft

 

[Undead]

what do you consider "stupidly large"?

I find lots of highly dysfunctional floorplans now in the "family-sized" 3 bedroom/2 bathroom category:
- long (20+ft) entry corridors
- small (<100 sq ft) bedrooms and some windowless interior with small closets
- small kitchens with insufficient countertop & storage space
- kitchen/LR/DR combos squeezed into 200 sq ft

Mine is about 350 sq.ft. and it feels the opposite of cozy. The bedrooms are about 90 and 145 sq.ft. There's enough area to make the small one the same size as the master and still have a large living room.

 

[Rimsky44]

But why launching new projects knowing the demand has almost disappeared.

Because, if anyone read the Globe and Mail article I linked to from the Urbanation article, there's a shortage even with all the new buildings coming up.
(Link here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/rea...tos-rental-shortage-will-skyrocket-in-coming/)

" The report – prepared by real estate research firm Urbanation Inc. for the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario – says rapid population growth in Ontario means the rental market needs to expand faster than its current capacity: “42,000 units [need] to be built annually during the 15-year period from 2017 to 2031, but will be delivering approximately 21,000 units per year, resulting in a shortfall of over 20,000 units per year.

Similar research by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA), has a slightly longer timeline and includes more housing types than just rental and expands its projection province wide, but comes up with a similar 211,000 housing units short by 2046."

 

[cdr108]

Mine is about 350 sq.ft. and it feels the opposite of cozy. The bedrooms are about 90 and 145 sq.ft. There's enough area to make the small one the same size as the master and still have a large living room.

350 sq.ft is huge for only LR/DR. is there a separate kitchen with sufficient storage/countertop?

 

[Undead]

350 sq.ft is huge for only LR/DR. is there a separate kitchen with sufficient storage/countertop?

Yes, I also have a 120 sq.ft. kitchen.

 

[TheKingEast]

Glad I was able to sell my condo relatively quickly in this market. For sure a buyers market and part of the bargaining from agents is that because of coronavirus and the market "tanking" the current offer is the best that you'll get.

 

[PinkLucy]

Buyers market for condos. Not for houses. I know a couple of agents who are enjoying record sales numbers.

 

[karledice]

Pfizer, BioNTech say Covid vaccine is more than 90% effective—‘great day for science and humanity’

Pfizer, BioNTech say Covid vaccine is more than 90% effective—‘great day for science and humanity’

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Downtown T.O. office sublease space quadruples in 2020

Downtown T.O. office sublease space quadruples in 2020 | RENX - Real Estate News Exchange

The amount of office sublease space on the market in downtown Toronto has quadrupled during 2020 to almost 2.5 million square feet, and there’s no short-term turnaround in sight. Across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), office sublease space on offer

renx.ca

Not all office space is affected equally. This article is specifically about what's happened to the office sublease market. Pulled from the article:

"Fifty-six per cent of the office sublease availability in downtown Toronto so far is for spaces of less than 5,000 square feet, according to Argeropoulos. Forty-six per cent is in class-A, 32 per cent is in class-B and 22 per cent is in class-C buildings. “The piece of the pie that we’re closely watching right now is in that greater-than-20,000-square-feet range,” said Argeropoulos. “That number, which we’ve been following over several months, is in the five per cent category. “Once we see that number rising, then I think there will be pressure on landlords to perhaps come off because they’re going to be competing with larger blocks of space, which can then be used as leverage to drive down rents.” "

 

[karledice]

I think The COVID-19 crisis significantly impacted the residential real estate market this spring. I have been working as a realtor for 5 years and for all these 5 years I first encountered a situation when for 5 months I did not have a single order! Now the situation is improving but in any case, this crisis has affected a lot.

Sorry to hear that Hope you have some other income. What do you mean by "order"? You mean listing or transaction?

 

[Zack88]

I was not lucky, last winter, right before the corona events get started, I bought an apartment to give it to daily renting for tourists.

I `ll explain my pain. Yeah, it was my old dream to own real estate in Myrtle beach, South Carolina, over than 10 years we`ve been thinking with my sweet wife Marry about this plan of our calm retiring with a small income from property investing, cuz our kids have got their problems, marriages, divorces, firing, money lacking etc, they do not care of us to be retired and maybe needed their support, so last December after a little chat with my wife we eventually have decided to take a step forward to provide a comfortable retirement for us with investing and having a passive income like that.

So we have done it with guys from JP Real Estate myrtle beach real estate can recommend to anyone, my respect to them indeed, they did well, they reacted quite fast and get the best price I needed, we put last money, we chose and bought a great property, but what the hell we gonna do with it now?? have no idea at the moment and when the madness will stop, I feel like I`ll get my retirement sooner, than I have to, just by medical reasons

 

[Richard White]

I was not lucky, last winter, right before the corona events get started, I bought an apartment to give it to daily renting for tourists

Not to be rude but it was public knowledge that the Airbnb restrictions were coming into place so I have no sympathy.

 

[afransen]

I think The COVID-19 crisis significantly impacted the residential real estate market this spring. I have been working as a realtor for 5 years and for all these 5 years I first encountered a situation when for 5 months I did not have a single order! Now the situation is improving but in any case, this crisis has affected a lot. In addition, now I am faced with such a problem that people, unfortunately, know little about taxes. Over the past month, I have probably been asked this question 10 times: " What is a 1031 exchange?" This question seems quite strange to me because people need to know their tax laws...

Isn't that what they're paying you for?

 

[Cryptopreneur]

Not sure how people are rationalizing selling their house and then immediately going and buying another house...

You're selling at a high, and buying at a high. Just go rent and ride it out for a couple of months.

With respect to downtown Condos, wait until Feb and if you have cash, just buy as many units as you can.