Toronto's condo market booms

[Petra]

Upper-Class project? What the hell is that?

I assume you mean high-end project.

yeah I don't really know the proper word for it, 'above-average' maybe?

if we got the very top tier (1000-2000 per sqft)
- Shangri-la
- Ritz
- Four Seasons

then the next tier (700-1000 per sqft)
- 1 St. Thomas
- 1 Bloor
- etc

then the next tier (550-700 per sqft) --> this is what I meant
- L-Tower
- 1 Bedford
- etc

then the average (400-550 per sqft)

 

[OnceAThief]

any 350 sq. feet condos left in or around downtown core?

 

[carturo15]

ask Urbandreamer, he will get you condos in downtown with 30% and 40% discount and sq ft at $300. I am not sure where but he can do it.....In the meantime last resale unit at cityplace 5 Mariner sold for $477 sq ft, 3rd floor and carpeted, DOM 16 days

 

[OnceAThief]

What say you Urbandreamer, can you help me out?

 

[markel]

feelings hurt. lol!

Pretty much everything on Lakeshore west of Bathurst is non-owner occupied. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone- who would really want to live there anyway?

Hey! That hurts my feelings! I actually bought in the Aqaurius section of Waterparkcity and I love the area. Lots of jogging trails, restaurants, bars, etc. Much of the units do seem to be rentals, 2 new neighbours in 3 months, but the finish inside the building is actually pretty good.

I'm thinking about moving to a house in the next little bit. Any thoughts on listing and running or should I sit back for a bit? I never bought the place to make a huge profit on it, just loved the neighbourhood and close commute.

 

[urbandreamer]

Want a cheap Toronto condo? Buy here:

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.a...rt=2&of=1&ps=10&o=A&Mode=0&PropertyID=6973953

($200,000, 1 bedroom on St Patrick by the Grange)

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.a...rt=2&of=1&ps=10&o=A&Mode=0&PropertyID=6966799

($189,000, bachelor on Queen's Quay)

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.a...rt=2&of=1&ps=10&o=A&Mode=0&PropertyID=6944534

($240,000, 44 St Joseph. Looks like good value here. Better built than the crap going up today.)

Maybe the Summit on King West at Bathurst?

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.a...rt=2&of=1&ps=10&o=A&Mode=0&PropertyID=6944445

(Queen West, $240,000)

Otherwise, Toronto's condo market is vastly over priced. 30% off coming soon....

 

[OnceAThief]

It's about time they revamp the archaic MLS site.

 

[APM]

Otherwise, Toronto's condo market is vastly over priced. 30% off coming soon....[/QUOTE]

Can you elaborate on this a little more?
Thanks

 

[urbandreamer]

Just over a year ago dog suites and older condos were affordable; I hardly see any condos under $200,000 anymore. It means they're unaffordable, and either a correction is coming soon or I'm resigned to the fact I'll be buying in Hamilton. Oh well. I would never pay any money to live in a condo; I want freedom, and that is why people buy houses in Hamilton....

On a crude chart I drew up (sorry don't know how to post it) I pretended condo price was a stock chart; it's jumped up too fast this past year and the volume/price indicates artificial run up--hence my call for a correction soon.

 

[rbt]

Until the monopolistic stranglehold on the system exerted by the brokers is broken you won't see anything that significantly benefits the consumer. We need a political candidate to run a campaign that pledges to disarm this group of housing terrorists in order for change to take affect. The system is ridiculously skewed towards protecting the outrageous and archaic commission structure that dominates the incumbent brokerages and does not aid the average real estate professional.

Can you expand on this? As far as I can tell it is the population as a whole that demands it. For sale by owners don't sell because buyers still don't really look for themselves in craigslist, newspapers, etc.

There are discount brokerages who will toss your stuff on MLS but they only pay about $50 to cooperating brokerages and non-savy buyers simply aren't willing to pay a commission on those properties. They actively freak out about the thought of paying a $2500 commission even if they get a property for $5000 below average price.

Anyway, in my limited experience, the buyers and sellers give the brokerages the lockin simply because they're not well educated in real-estate. The customers/clients actively participate and encourage the social engineering that takes place provided their agent keeps emailing them every 3 to 6 months after the transaction enquiring about the status of their kids braces, soccer scores, or other trivial matters.


I liked what Steven was doing. As a recent addition to "the machine" I'm hoping to be able to shake things up a bit myself but it is a long term thing (lots of history to untangle).

 

[Observer Walt]

Until the monopolistic stranglehold on the system exerted by the brokers is broken you won't see anything that significantly benefits the consumer. We need a political candidate to run a campaign that pledges to disarm this group of housing terrorists in order for change to take affect. The system is ridiculously skewed towards protecting the outrageous and archaic commission structure that dominates the incumbent brokerages and does not aid the average real estate professional.

Steven Moranis tried to do this but I believe his efforts ran into a brick wall.

* Yawn * We keep hearing this talk every once and again. Little has come of it. There are reasons why most people prefer the service offered by the "full service" brokerages. If and when people stop feeling that way, a newer model will come forward.

Rightly or wrongly, when a potential buyer sees a "for sale by owner" property, or one being marketed by a discount broker, they will often mentally downgrade the price they are willing to offer, by about the amount of a tyupical commission.

As for Moranis, he had good intentions but didn't think through the situation before he jumped in. Maybe he'll be back.

 

[gei]

* Yawn * We keep hearing this talk every once and again. Little has come of it. There are reasons why most people prefer the service offered by the "full service" brokerages. If and when people stop feeling that way, a newer model will come forward.

Rightly or wrongly, when a potential buyer sees a "for sale by owner" property, or one being marketed by a discount broker, they will often mentally downgrade the price they are willing to offer, by about the amount of a tyupical commission.

As for Moranis, he had good intentions but didn't think through the situation before he jumped in. Maybe he'll be back.

Ha.

NO ONE "prefers the service offered by the 'full service' brokerages". I know plenty of people buying/selling properties, and they all felt like they had no choice but to go with a broker because of the sad stranglehold they manage to maintain on the market.

It's hard to "prefer" their service when they do little or nothing and take such a huge percentage of your sale. IMO real estate agents are just people who coulndn't find anything better to do in life, and are completely and utterly unnecessary in this day and age.

 

[OnceAThief]

Ouch. A little harsh aren't we?

Observer, just curious, are you an agent?

 

[Observer Walt]

Ha.

NO ONE "prefers the service offered by the 'full service' brokerages". I know plenty of people buying/selling properties, and they all felt like they had no choice but to go with a broker because of the sad stranglehold they manage to maintain on the market.

This information will come as a surprise to literally thousands of people in the market each month. They have choices, including an increasing number of people who are "doing it themselves". People possibly have a little more sense than you give them credit for, gei.

I am not an agent; but I talk to agents virtually every day in my work as an appraiser. There may be a few who "couldn't find anything better to do". They don't last, and I think you'll find that's pretty much as in other lines of work.

 

[Granny]

Has no one figured it out? The only time Caviet gets any response, is when he 'baits' someone.

His comments when he is not being insulting are, for the most part foolish. No doubt he will try and bait me now with a few insults and ignorant comments with the hopes of baiting me into a response. This helps him to justify his reasons to continue posting on this forum.

By all means. Read his comments and have a good chuckle. No need to ban him, just ignore him.

Even the foolish have their message.