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Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

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Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#21

There's lots of talk about tapping into the 'green belt' to allow more residential building. Something needs to be done though, soon and carefully. The market's getting out of control. And often what you don't hear is the 'spillovers'. 1.Where a person from toronto sells their home for a lot, then travels to a town outside toronto to retire/settle down. Local residents/new home owners can't compete with these buyers…

It's true. I live in London Ontario, 2 hours down the 401, and it's shocking how the home prices have jumped. We are a medium sized city that often feels more kinship with Michigan and Windsor as far as our economy goes.

I had different plans than becoming part of a retirement community for TO real estate lotto winners. I'm trying to start a family and it feels like a race now.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live an hour from Toronto. Single detached homes closing prices went up 40% since last April. It's an unsustainable bubble.

Nope just catching up to the valuations in Vancouver, New York, London, Tokyo and other desirable international cities.

I'd guess less "catching up" than "shunted away from"—Vancouver specifically.

(Vancouver passed a foreign home-buyer tax; suddenly the housing market there began to cool down. But, very likely, all that money didn't just stop trying to find a place to "land"; it just skipped over Vancouver for the next-easiest city to invest into.)

If Toronto enacts similar measures, the money will just move somewhere else again.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#23
Checked out this area where I saw some condos driving on Kippling Street. Unfortunately, because they are sort of a "ravine lot", it shows that there are +200 houses in the park it is atop.

http://prntscr.com/f3w9pu

So that green area in the above image is a park. I think the map tiles are likely segmented incorrectly.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#24

There's lots of talk about tapping into the 'green belt' to allow more residential building. Something needs to be done though, soon and carefully. The market's getting out of control. And often what you don't hear is the 'spillovers'. 1.Where a person from toronto sells their home for a lot, then travels to a town outside toronto to retire/settle down. Local residents/new home owners can't compete with these buyers…

I live an hour from Toronto. Single detached homes closing prices went up 40% since last April. It's an unsustainable bubble.

Please don't say that... I am hoping to rake in the giant ROIs...

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#25
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New York and London definitely attract global talent. Toronto is not like them. This is a speculation bubble.

Toronto is pretty cheap for a city of its size.

And pretty awesome. You will appreciate it 100% more if you visit our capitol.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the same issue in NZ and Australia. All three countries are addicted to high immigration levels and rapid population growth, in order to grow the GDP. This will inevitably have effects on housing affordability and sprawl. If you try and hem in development like you say, the house prices will just increase even faster. I don't think you can have your cake and eat it too. You either need to deal with an aging popul…

The biggest problem both cities have is that everyone seems to only want a detached house. Condos are cheap in Toronto and they pump them out constantly but everyone still wants a fully detached house.

I wonder if a city could just decide to turn all the land titles that detached homes sit on, from freehold titles, to life-estate titles.

So, it'd be like eminent domain, but you can keep living in the property (if you do live in the property) until you die. But, if you were to try to sell the land, you'd only be allowed to sell it to the government, at the market rate (as they would pay in under eminent domain); where the city would then tear down the detached home and (presumably) re-zone the land for highrises or mixed-use buildings.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#27
post #20
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unsustainable, or unsustainable in the face of people using property as an investment rather than a place to live? Foreign investment has destroyed Vancouvers affordability. The city is half full of rich Chinese driving Audis, and nearly all real estate signs come in Chinese. The same is happening down the west coast of the US as well as Toronto now. We need to prioritize affordability - and not just subsidies for th…

Foreign investment might be the problem in Vancouver but the situation is not the same across the west coast. The SF Bay area market isn't dominated by foreign investment, people make more money. In the end population increases but the number of detached homes does not therefore a smaller percentage of the population we'll be able to afford them and they will be now expensive. You simply can't expect everyone to have…

You don't see the connection between "make more money" and asset inflation in prices of homes? You act like you're (Bay area) living like kings.

I pay moderate amount for a nice place in a less happening tech but far more pleasant city, and I don't have to live like an animal.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#28
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toronto is pretty cheap for a city of its size.

And pretty awesome. You will appreciate it 100% more if you visit our capitol.

Comparing Toronto with Ottawa is simply not a fair comparison. It is like comparing New York City with Albany or Seattle with Olympia.

The City of Ottawa includes the core of Ottawa plus all of its suburbs (excluding the Quebec side) and does not even top a million people. Everything is spread out and suburban such that our capitol is more like a bunch of closely spaced towns than anything resembling an actual city.

The City of Toronto (which excludes most of the suburbs) is, on its own, triple the population of Ottawa. The Greater Toronto Area is over 5x the population of the National Capital Region.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem both cities have is that everyone seems to only want a detached house. Condos are cheap in Toronto and they pump them out constantly but everyone still wants a fully detached house.

What do you consider cheap? 500k for 400 sq/ft? Toronto has some of the highest sq/ft prices in the world. There is nothing cheap. If you have ever been to Toronto you will notice that most of the homes are semi's and only outside of the city in what can be considered the suburbs (Etobicoke, etc) will you find detached homes. Lots are no more than 20-25 ft wide in the city.

You can get a 1+1 for $500k downtown. You can get a 2 bedded for 300k is Saugua.

Where did you get that it has some of the highest ppsf? A quick search shows just about every other major city I could check being higher.

Re: Interactive Map of Toronto Housing Changes 2011-2016

#30
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem both cities have is that everyone seems to only want a detached house. Condos are cheap in Toronto and they pump them out constantly but everyone still wants a fully detached house.

To me the frustrating part is that condos aren't cheap. The housing crisis wouldn't look so awful if you could get a 3-bedroom in a decently located mid rise for a half-million dollars... But instead they're all tiny one bedrooms. Which is just insane.

Plenty of larger units towards the edge of the city. The core is for DINKs.
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